At the Tom Harkin Steak Fry on Sunday, the news of the day was made by Barack Obama who took a harder line on Iraq withdrawal in his speech than he had up to that point, when he said:

"We are going to bring an end to this war and I will fight hard in the United States Senate to make sure we don't pass any funding bill that does not have a deadline."

Dodd and Edwards had successfully put him and Clinton into the same wishy washy box on Iraq so Obama took the opportunity to break out of it. But looking at Obama's speech in front of SEIU yesterday, Iraq is not the only issue where Obama's rhetoric is changing. Check out this passage:

And talking to these Americans reminds me why I'm a Democrat. Because if the Democratic Party means anything, then it has to mean we value labor. If the Democratic Party stands for anything, then it has to stand up for your rights, and your future.  If the Democratic Party has a vision of America, it has to be an America where we honor the principle that Pauline honors every day of her life ­ that I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper.

Obama has been an amazing communicator of the values that make us Democrats and it's always frustrated me that he never makes that connection rhetorically -- that he's avoided stating why he's a Democrat proudly. This is the first time I've seen him do this, if I'm wrong please let me know, but this appears to be a shift, one that I heartily welcome. On one level, of course, he is starting to sound more like Edwards and of all times to do so, a speech in front of the SEIU is it. Obama needed to prevent an all-out endorsement by the union in the wake of Andy Stern's revelation that SEIU is leaning Edwards.

To do that, in addition to the rhetoric shift, Obama also adopted a more combative tone in the speech:

You know I'm tired of playing defense. I know SEIU is tired of playing defense. We're ready to play some offense. We¹re ready to play offense for a living wage. We're ready to play offense for a secure retirement.

We're ready to play offense for health care. It's time to stand up to the drug and insurance companies who've been blocking reform for too long and tell them enough is enough. [...]

We're ready to take the offense for organized labor. It's time we had a President who didn't choke saying the word 'union.' We need to strengthen our unions by letting them do what they do best ­ organize our workers.

All the while stressing his the central theme of his candidacy: ending the politics of division:

It's time to change our politics in Washington. It's time to turn the page.

Think about it. We've been talking about our health care crisis for years. Yet through Democratic and Republican Administrations we've failed to act. And we know why it's because the drug and insurance industry has spent over a billion dollars on lobbying in the past ten years alone to block reform.

Too many people in Washington see politics as a game. That's why I believe this election cannot be about who can play the game better. It has to be about who can put an end to the game-playing.  It has to be about who can put an end to the division and start uniting America to get things done.

Sen. Obama seems to have gotten the message that you can express partisan pride while pledging to bring the parties together, just as you can be a uniter even as you "play offense" against those that have obstructed an agenda consistent with our common values.