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Just a quick followup on my previous post about Obama's The Time Has Come For Universal Health Care In America" speech.

Digby chronicles how there's been quite a debate over both the style and substance of the speech. For those interested, follow the link. Otherwise, here's Digby's conclusion - with which, by the way, I agree in full:

I have no idea what Obama's intentions are, but I disagree that there is no utility in engaging in sweeping, inspirational rhetoric on this without a lot of specific proposals to back it up.

I agree that as an abstraction health care is easy. Why not? But it's also important to understand that the issue has not yet reached one of those transcendent places that makes massive change seem imperative and that's where some soaring Obama rhetoric is very useful

This is important. Universal Health Care, the concept, is far from settled, but Obama is just seizing the issue and saying that it is. And he's doing it with inspirational rhetoric that makes you feel as if it's an inexorable tide of progress, daring those who would try to stop it.

We are a long way from any plans and frankly I don't particularly want to hear about them yet in detail. I just want to know if the Democrats are prepared to say that they believe in universal health care. If they don't believe that then I want to hear why. That's the bright line that Obama is drawing and I think it's pretty smart.

This is precisely the dynamic I was trying to capture in my post. First you transform the debate by transforming the narrative, and then you lay out the specifics that will address the problem. For far too long Democrats have thought they could win by skipping straight to step two, but it rarely if ever has worked.

In many ways, it the whole "be the change you would see in the world" idea shifted ever so slightly. Convince enough people that the change is inevitable - speak as if the change you would see in the world is inevitable, if you will - and it will be.