11:05: Obama comes on to the stage after being introduced by Senator Dick Durbin.

11:06: Here comes wife Michelle and their two daughters. "Very attractive woman, obviously," Chris Matthews says on MSNBC.

11:08: "In my heart I know you didn't just come here for me," Obama says. "In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope."

11:11: "When a boy turns to violence, I learned that there's a hole in that boy's heart that no government alone can fill." Not a big-government liberal; government alone can't solve our problems. Values and faith are required, too.

11:13: "I stand before you to announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America." Hit just the right notes on that one: Forceful and determined.

11:16: Long riff on why our history shows we should be hopeful about change: "It is time to answer that call...In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can effect change."

11: 17: Repeats his riff about "petty politics" distracting us from "real problems."

11:19: Really hitting hard now. "It's time to turn the page. Right here. and Right now."

11:21 "Let's be the generation that ensures our nations workers share in our nations prosperity...Let's be the generation that ends poverty in America...We can do this. And finally, let's be the generation that tackles our health...Let's be the generation that right here and right now [brings] universal health care to America. We can do that." He's really playing the generational theme -- which is key to the case he'll make against Hillary Clinton and others -- in an inspirational way.

11:24: "America, it is time to start bringing our troops home."

11:27: On Lincoln: "He tells us that there is power in words. He tells us that there is power in conviction...He tells us that there's power in hope."

11:28: Wraps up: "Thank you very much everybody, let's get to work. I love you. Thank you." And, refreshingly, no obligatory "God Bless America" at the end.