I attended a Barack Obama event for young professionals last night held at a trendy lounge in the waterfront area of DC. The event was titled Generation BO and was held at a place called H2O, so there was a certain irony in that. The crowd was more energetic than I’ve seen it at recent Obama events I’ve attended, chanting “O-BA-MA!” in anticipation of his entrance. Perhaps that had to do with the age of the audience and the loud, pulsating music. For the most part, Obama stuck to his standard stump speech about replacing cynicism with hope and optimism so we can meet the challenges of our generation: health care, education, energy independence/global warming, and leaving Iraq “so we can start focusing on the real war on terror and ignorance and poverty.” A refrain in the speech is it’s “time to turn the page,” which works well for Obama. I fear that in practice that would mean a de-emphasis on fighting terrorism. Objectively speaking, however, given Bush’s low approval ratings, it’s clear that the country does want a change, and of the major candidates, he’s the most representative of change. The three Republicans have stuck with Bush on the Iraq War, while John Edwards ran in the last election, and Hillary Clinton, well, she’s a Clinton.