Obama Makes Sense on Meet the Press

I just saw Barack Obama interviewed by Tim Russert on NBC's Meet the Press, and was especially impressed by the following points:

1. Obama said his "DNA" makes him ideally suited to bring Americans together - his black father and his white mother. I like that - the way Obama thinks and talks. When was the last time you heard another Presidential candidate of either party talk about DNA, in any connection to politics?

2. Obama again spoke about the superficiality of the American flag pin issue - the degree to which Obama wears and does not wear a pin. I couldn't agree more. Did it ever occur to those who think flag pins are so important that a terrorist could easily wear one? What counts is what candidates say and do - not what they wear in their lapels.

3. Obama explained his opposition to the gas tax holiday (McCain) and gas tax holiday plus windfall profits reduction (Clinton) proposals. They're sugar fixes, and, in the case of the windfall profits reductions, not likely to be signed into law by Bush any time soon. What's needed are the deeper solutions, that not only reduce oil company revenues, but reduce our consumption of oil. Any proposal that doesn't directly get at these underlying problems will only help us at the pumps for the next few months, at most.

4. Obama made clear his support of Israel, and his view that Israel's security was essential to the U.S. But he differed from Clinton's talk of "obliterating" Iran as counter-productive and dangerous. This kind of swaggering comes right of the Bush play book.

5. Obama said he will work hard for the Democratic ticket, whoever the nominee, and that the super delegates need not blindly follow the results of the primaries and caucuses. But nor, he emphasized, should they be unduly influenced by current snapshots and polls.

Has any other candidate presented as clear and thoughtful a series of positions?