patriotism as a bludgeon

Watched Senator Obama's victory speech last night, and this bit toward the end stood out (gotta give a hat tip to Annie Wagner at Slog, too):

But what you don’t deserve is another election that’s governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you won’t hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge and patriotism as a bludgeon. What you won’t see from this campaign or this party is a politics that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to polarize, because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.

Don't let the idiots in the right wing noise machine define your campaign, Senator. This is a good start. Keep this up, and you can't lose.