what inspires you?

"The most important obligation of the next President is to protect Americans from the threat posed by violent extremists who despise us, our values and modernity itself. They are moral monsters, but they are also a disciplined, dedicated movement driven by an apocalyptic zeal, which celebrates murder, has access to science, technology and mass communications, and is determined to acquire and use against us weapons of mass destruction. The institutions and doctrines we relied on in the Cold War are no longer adequate to protect us in a struggle where suicide bombers might obtain the world's most terrifying weapons."

"My job will be to keep you safe. And I will not hesitate to strike against any who would do us harm. I will do whatever is required. But part of keeping you safe is maintaining the finest military in the world, and that means providing our troops with the proper equipment and the proper training and the proper rotations. And it means caring for our troops when they come home, not forgetting about our troops. No more homeless veterans; no more begging for disability payments; no more waiting in line for the V.A. We have a solemn obligation to honor those who have served on our behalf. But part of keeping you safe is also deploying our military wisely. And the war in Iraq was unwise. It distracted us from the fight that needed to be fought in Afghanistan against Al Qaida. They're the ones who killed 3,000 Americans. It fanned the flames of anti-American sentiment. It has cost us dearly in blood and in treasure. I opposed this war in 2002. I will bring this war to an end in 2009. It is time to bring our troops home. But I don't want to just end the war; I want to end the mindset that got us into war. I want to end a politics based on fear that uses 9/11 as a way to scare up votes instead of a way to bring the country together against a common enemy."

"to help Americans without health insurance acquire it without bankrupting the country, and ruining the quality of American health care that is the envy of the world;"

"If you are ready for change, Houston, then we can stop talking about the outrage of 47 million people without health insurance and start doing something about it. I put forward a plan that says everybody will be able to get health insurance that is at least as good as the plan I've got as a member of Congress. And if you already have health insurance, we will lower your premiums by $2,500 per family, per year. And if you can't afford it, we will subsidize your care, and we will emphasize prevention so we have a health care system instead of a disease-care system. And we won't do this 20 years from now or 10 years from now. We will do it by the end of my first term as president of the United States of America."

"to make our public schools more accountable to parents and better able to meet the critical responsibility they have to prepare our children for the challenges they'll face in the world they'll lead."

... every child needs to be nurtured and embraced. And so we are going to invest in early childhood education to close the achievement gap. And I won't just talk about how great teachers are; I will reward them for their greatness by giving them higher salaries and giving them more support. And I want the highest standards in our schools. We have to have high standards, standards of excellence in order to compete in this global economy. But I don't want our standards measured just by a single high-stakes standardized test, because I don't want our teachers teaching to the tests. I want our students learning art, and music, and science, and literature, and social studies. And I don't know about you, but I think it's about time we made college affordable for every young person in America. So we're going to provide a $4,000 tuition credit, every student, every year, but, students, you're going to have to give back something in return. You're going to have to participate in community service. You're going to have to work in a homeless shelter, or a veteran's home, or an underserved school, or join the Peace Corps."

Excerpts taken from speeches on 2/19/08. Of course, one of these candidates is known for just giving empty speeches, rhetoric without details. The other, a maverick who has the experience to lead. And it's so obvious which one is which, isn't it.