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Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., greets commuters as he tries to get out the vote in at a Dunkin' Donuts donut shop on Feb. 12 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

They stood; they did not sit for fifty minutes. As Senator Barack Obama spoke to a crowd of approximately 13,000 in Baltimore, Maryland on February 11th, the discipline and commitment of the audience gave proof to a striking political phenomenon which is sweeping the nation: Obama Mania.

Although the seats were readily available in First Mariner Arena, from the moment Senator Obama entered the room, the audience on the floor of the auditorium and in the ramparts on both sides of the stadium were captivated: they stood tall and eager until the Senator completed his talk. This outstanding discipline was only surpassed by the poise of a crowd which waited over two hours for the candidate to arrive. Men and women, young and old, black and white waited patiently—and not once did any individual seem disgruntled or annoyed. These are indeed hall marks of the intensity and strength of Obama’s supporters; they too are portends for the general election of 2008.

The Clinton campaign has deliberately tried to misrepresent Obama’s campaign as frenetic—a fad based on a “fairy tale” candidate. They have attempted to belittle Obama as a man of insufficient “experience.” They have presented him as merely an eloquent speechmaker who will be out of his depth in dealing with the Republican “attack machine” and who will be unable to craft policy in the ruthless tug of Congress. Moreover, they have tried to lampoon him as naïve, an ingénue in foreign affairs. Yet, when the man enters a room, the crowd rises: they are responding to the call of one who speaks with moral authority and who is fulfilling a historic mission.

Obama’s supporters are not merely a fickle, utopian and self-indulgent group: they are committed and true; they are patriots who seek to work along Senator Obama to improve their nation. They will march with Obama for they believe in him. At the Baltimore rally, they cried in spontaneous unity: “Now is the Time.”

“This is not a campaign; this is a movement. Why else would 13,000 people gather in the middle of a working day on a Monday afternoon?” declared Rep. Elijah Cummings on the platform. Indeed, the Clinton camp and the Republican Party have yet to fully appreciate the organization Obama has set in motion. His authentic, simple message is resonating across the nation: the call to restore honesty and accountability in Washington D.C is striking a chord.

Sen. Clinton is gradually losing her grip on the nomination mostly because she, corrupt and devoid of principle, cannot inspire Americans to be better than they are. She can only promise to plug the leak in the basement. And yet, Americans know that, for the most part, their own homes are in better order than hers.

Sen. Obama, on the other hand, is calling upon the revival of the deepest springs of the nations’ foundational doctrine: simple people taking charge of their neighborhoods, reclaiming their government and adhering to the basic principles of truth and integrity. He calls upon Americans to work hard and in unison in order to improve their country. It is enough to make Washington and Jefferson proud.

Senator Obama, unlike Senator Clinton, is a liberal populist rather than a liberal elitist. He will withdraw the troops and expand the government, he will tax and spend as she will—but the people will accept it from him because they believe his first motive is their well-being rather than his self-interest.

Conservatives have much to cheer in so far as they observe this movement crushing Sen. Clinton’s campaign. But if they believe they will nonetheless be able to stem this tide in the general election, it is they who are utopian. When Sen. McCain spoke before an audience of conservatives at CPAC in Washington D.C. on the same weekend that Obama campaigned in the Potomac states, the applause he received was tepid at best—and the crowd was distant, mistrustful in many instances. Sen. McCain’s supporters do not stand in rapt attention, do not wait for hours, and do not hang on every word.

Sen. Obama is the next president of the United States for the people are saying so—on their feet, in the street, and at the polls. The rest is empty conversation.

-Grace Vuoto is the Executive Director of the Edmund Burke Institute for American Renewal. The opinions expressed are her own.