A theme stolen from 1980 Phillies, "Yes we can" and another sound byte

"Yes we can".

I'm glad he didn't disappoint.

I needed my pithy satatement of the day.

So, yes we can get fired up and ride the wave for a change.

"Can we build it? Yes, we can."

The rest of the speech was pretty damn good, though.

It will pop eventually in an Obama speech.

Hillary's "America is worth fighting for" is something new and revolutionary, something we've never heard before? This is American politics, where there's no room for deep and insightful concepts.

"Yes We Can" was the mantra of Dave Cash, who had come to the Phillies from the Pirates for the '74 season and played through the '76 season. He was a key in the Phillies winning their first division title in 1976, after narrowly missing in 1975. He left as a free agent after the 1976 season, going to Montreal. The Phillies acquired Ted Sizemore to play second base in 1977. The 1980 Phillies won the team's first (and so far only) World Series, but Cash (and Sizemore) were both long gone by then.

Enough about baseball though. I have heard a number of (other) theories on "Yes We Can", from Bob the Builder to Cesar Chavez. Anyone know if there is really one true provenance for this slogan where the Obama campaign is concerned?

I appreciate the welcome, Bluebear. Have a great weekend.