The Genius of America: "The theme of 'E pluribus unum,'—out of many, one—resonated throughout the Democratic National Convention keynote speech, delivered by 42-year-old African-American Illinois state Senator Barack Obama on July 27.

"His Kenyan economist father and his Kansan anthropologist mother gave him an African first name, which means, he explained, 'blessed by God' in Swahili. Obama, identified as a 'rising star' in the Democratic Party, drew on his own heritage to praise the diversity of the United States to the delegates.

"'There's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America,' Obama said. 'There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.'"

"Obama's 'shared values' theme was intended to unite Americans behind the Democratic ticket. 'The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue States: red states for Republicans, blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too,' Obama said, asserting, 'We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.'"