1. It was a full-throated expression of outrage. In his marathon Senate speech, which began on Monday at 7 p.m. and finally finished on Tuesday at 8 p.m., Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey did not just enumerate a list of shuttered agencies and cruel policies, as bad as all of that is. He got at a much deeper message: that what this administration is doing now to our country is not normal, and it’s not right.

2. It was a display of leadership. Democrats have been accused of sitting around wringing their hands. People have been waiting for someone to stand up. Booker did that, for 25 hours.

3. It was historically significant. Not only was Booker’s the longest speech in Senate history, this was a Black senator surpassing the previous record set by Strom Thurmond in a filibuster against the 1957 Civil Rights Act.

4. It was a superb piece of oratory. Even in his 25th hour, Booker was an elegant speaker, crafting and repeating memorable phrases. “This is a moral moment,” he said. “It’s not left or right. It’s right or wrong.”

5. It was at once political and transcendent of politics. Booker repeatedly appealed to Republicans to join Democrats in refusing to normalize the administration’s overreach. While acknowledging that the two parties might not agree on policies, he reminded us that these differences must be debated and voted on in Congress. Citing his relationship with the late Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, Booker appealed for bipartisanship based on patriotism and a sense of decency.

6. It was a call for courage and also for mercy. Booker spoke of John Lewis who, as an activist during the civil rights movement, suffered beatings and severe injuries. Years later, when Lewis was a congressman, one of the men who had beaten him came to ask for forgiveness. “What did you do?” Booker asked Lewis. Lewis’s reply was, “Every one of us deserves mercy.”

7. It appealed to both heart and mind. The speech was an impassioned, vivid reminder that the current administration’s defunding and cuts are not only unconstitutional, they are already damaging people’s lives.

8. It was an act of physical stamina. Booker spent 25 hours on his feet, with no food or even a bathroom break — a pointed demonstration of strength and vigor in a party that has been criticized for having only leaders who are too old and/or too weak.

9. If it was in some part a stunt, it was a brilliant one. If Booker’s speech was designed to capture attention, it accomplished its purpose. If it was intended to inspire and hearten a dejected party, and to speak for and to an angry American public, it accomplished its purpose.

10. It included an acknowledgment of past mistakes. This was a neat mix of honesty, humility, realism, and shrewdness. By admitting that the Democrats had made mistakes in the past — that both parties had, because everyone makes mistakes — Booker was striking a blow against “whataboutism.” And he was reminding everyone of the current administration’s unwillingness to admit mistakes, even when national security is at stake.

11. It used the procedural tools of Congress to get a message to America. Even though the Democrats currently have no real voting leverage in Congress, Booker showed that they still have a national platform to provide an alternative vision for the country.

12. It was a declaration of interdependence. Booker invited people to find common ground, an assertion of democratic values and common sense.

13. It was a call to action. Above all the speech was an exhortation to Americans not to let anger and alarm lead to paralyzing despair. Once again he quoted John Lewis: “He said for us to go out and cause some good trouble, necessary trouble, to redeem the soul of our nation.”

Joan Wickersham’s latest book is, “No Ship Sets Out To Be A Shipwreck.” Her column appears regularly in the Globe.