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An Onalaska man drove an awful long way to hear Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama speak, but Obama made it worth the drive.

As a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, James Wine also heard plenty of other political speeches, too — he was particularly impressed by those given by New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Obama’s pick as running mate. But Obama’s convention-closing acceptance speech before more than 75,000 at Invesco Field was the highlight of the trip for Wine.

“I thought it was an excellent speech. I like how he threw down the gauntlet to (Republican president candidate John) McCain for debates,” Wine said in an interview Sunday, just back from Denver. “I tell you, he is a very exciting orator. I like what he had to say. I’m a little concerned that everybody’s going to expect him to work miracles when he gets elected. ... He’s still got to work within the system.”

One thing Wine especially liked about Obama’s acceptance speech was how he worked in more specifics about the “change” his campaign represents. Obama gave answers to nagging questions in his acceptance speech.

“He’s going to have to keep supplying the answers over and over again for the next nine weeks,” said Wine, who heard the speech sitting on the Denver Bronco’s playing field, about one long pass play from Obama’s podium.

Wine is vice chair of the La Crosse County Democratic Party. Wine first got involved in politics in the 1970s, around the time he started teaching in the math department at UW-La Crosse, a position from which he retired after 29 years. But he became disenchanted with politics and dropped out in the late ’70s.

Disenchantment with the Bush administration inspired him to drop back into politics, along with his wife, Marcia.

It was a long, complicated journey from county and congressional district caucuses to becoming a delegate. “It’s kind of archaic,” he said. “But I thought it would be an interesting learning experience and fun and a chance to make contacts.”

The journey to the Democratic National Convention was longer for Wine than others because he chose to drive rather than fly. He has avoided airports ever since they started using the strict and time-consuming security measures inspired by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. “The hassle at the airports is just too much,” he said.

He stayed with relatives in Littleton, a 30-minute commute to the convention. The light-rail transit system made the commute pretty easy, though. “That is just the most fantastic form of transportation,” he said.

Staying in the suburbs, away from the rest of the delegation, meant he actually got exposed to conversations that had nothing to do with politics. He got plenty of that at the convention, though.

“Most of the speeches that were given at the breakfasts and the convention and some of the caucuses were designed to fire up the audiences,” he said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of information in them.”

Wine wasn’t surprised to learn on his way home from the convention that McCain had picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. “It was sort of expected that he was going to pick a woman,” Wine said. “They’re trying to peel off some of the lukewarm Hillary supporters.”

Wine went to the convention as a delegate pledged to Obama and he came away from the convention upbeat about his candidate’s chances to win the White House in November.

“When I left, and the last I heard, the national poll was close, but it appears to me that the electoral college count is not that close. I think the Obama strategy of working on the key states is going to pay off,” Wine said. “It’s not a sure thing, but we can do it. I’m confident that it can be done.”