This was a spectacularly good speech because it made you feel something.
It wasn't just Michelle Obama's eloquence in walking through her husband's accomplishments at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center.
It was the art of comparing Barack Obama's legacy to Donald Trump's, without ever mentioning Trump by name.
The event personified the Old America, if you will, that took the presidency and policymaking seriously and upheld our values as a country. The genuine bipartisan camaraderie with George W. Bush and his wife Laura, along with the other Democratic presidents in attendance, was what much of the country yearns for.
Disagree sharply on policy and what government should do – that's fine. Beat people who disagree with rhetorically into a pulp. Heated debate is also fine. But all sides are all on board with adhering to the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law, and maintaining U.S. might in the world.
Mrs. Obama's speech, followed by her husband's remarks, were a reminder of what politics, under Republican and Democratic presidents, used to be like and can be again.