The 2008 presidential campaign has had many twists and turns. It's been a campaign unlike any of us have seen in our lifetime.

It's the first time since 1952 that a sitting president or vice president of the United States has not been running for president. As such, it's been a wide-open affair.

But something happened this past weekend that would have been practically unbelievable at one time.

A candidate for president gave a campaign speech in a key state prior to that state's primary election.

It was one of thousands of speeches given in thousands of places by the some dozen different individuals running for president or the dozens of surrogates speaking for each candidate. In that respect, it may have been undistinguished from many others.

It received no more media attention than any other stop on the campaign trail, and maybe less. CNN aired it in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Yet, the speech was historic. Not because of the oratory of the speaker, or that it unveiled any major policy pronouncements, or for the turnout it attracted. It may not necessarily be one that will be quoted and chewed over repeatedly by political analysts.

The speech was noteworthy because of who gave it and where it was given.

The speech was given by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. The speech was made in Richmond, Va.

Obama was speaking there prior to Virginia's primary election, the next key event on the campaign trail. Yet, that didn't distinguish the speech in and of itself.

The speech was significant because it would have been unheard of, unthinkable, even impossible to have been made at one time.

In fact there would have been a time when it would have been impossible for anyone running for president of the United States to campaign in Richmond, Va.

That's because at one time Virginia was not part of the United States. It is true that at one time Richmond once was the capital of a nation. Just not the capital of the United States of America.

Richmond was the capital of the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy, of course had the institution of slavery.

And in Virginia at that time, it may have been virtually impossible for a black man to have attempted to air his views in a public setting.

Barack Obama didn't just give a speech. He is running for president of the United States. In fact he is a legitimate contender to become the next president of the United States.

When one considers the scope of history, the event of a black man running for president in the one-time capital of the Confederacy - attracting people of all colors and backgrounds in peaceful assembly, passing as just another campaign event - is a monumental statement about how far this country has come to living up to the principles on which it was founded.

It took nearly 150 years of blood, sweat and tears of six generations of Americans to get here.