Despite the water-logged Washington weather, more than 3,000 young supporters filed into the DAR Constitution Hall to hear President Obama deliver an impassioned speech about continuing Democrats’ fight for change – and preserving that change through the November elections. Standing for the duration of the speech, the audience cheered, photographed, and applauded as the President challenged political pundits claims of an “enthusiasm gap” in this year’s elections.

The President not only impressed all of those in attendance, but also roused Andrew Sullivan, writer and commentator from the Atlantic. From his blog, the Daily Dish :

Obama’s speech to Gen44 tonight knocked my socks off. It’s streaming on CSPAN here . If you’ve forgotten why many of you worked your ass off for this guy, and felt hope for the first time in many years, watch it.

…What I particularly loved about the speech was his direct attack on the fiscal irresponsibility of the Pledge To America, the $700 billion it means we will have to borrow from China to sustain the unsustainable Bush tax cuts for those earning over $250,000 a year. And what I agreed with was his embrace of government that is lean and efficient, because these are times when the government is necessary to help reverse self-evident decline, mounting fiscal crisis, deeply dangerous enemies, and socially dangerous inequality, exploited at home by ugly demagogues and know-nothing nihilists.

President Obama spoke about the importance of getting involved again in the political process, just as so many supporters did during the 2008 campaign. Here are a few excerpts from last night, but you definitely should check out the full speech.

The biggest mistake we could make is to let impatience or frustration lead to apathy and indifference — because that guarantees the other side wins. And if they do win, they will spend the next two years fighting for the very same policies that led us into this recession in the first place; the same policies that left middle-class families behind for more than a decade; the same policies you fought hard to change in 2008.

Later on:

And by the way, you did not elect me to do what was easy. You did not elect me to out there and put my finger out to the wind and figure out how to keep myself in office. You elected me to do what is right. You elected me to do what is true. (Applause.) And you got involved because you believe that this was the moment to do what is right and take on the challenges that had ignored for too long. (Applause.)

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