One For The Ages

Up until tonight, I always ranked - among the ones I have witnessed on live television - Barbara Jordan's 1992 keynote address, and Mario Cuomo's 1984 keynote address, as the very best of the Democratic Convention speeches in my lifetime. The next tier down, Bill Clinton's acceptance speech in 1992, and Barack Obama's 2004 keynote address, both excellent in their own right.

But tonight? Tonight.

August 28, 2008, Senator Barack Obama brought it all back home and then some.

I went between tears streaming down my cheeks, to entering some transcendent realm beyond emotion or reason. I have never wanted a victory for us more than I ever have now.


On a personal note, our grandson is 4 years old. Like Barack Obama, he has a unique multicultural heritage that reflects the beauty and diversity of our great nation. The realization hit me: He can grow up in a America that says yes, you too, can be President of the United States. You too, can work hard, dream, and achieve beyond all previous bounds. Obama will be - for that matter he already is - a sterling example of Limitless Possibility. He is already being raised that way, as all children should be, and he would be, regardless of whether Obama was even known. But to have that example. To have The President of the United States as an example again, in the finest sense of the word. Not the wretched embarrassment that has disgraced our Oval Office for nearly 8 years.

Yes, you too.

I want Barack Obama to win in a way I never even thought possible even a few weeks ago.

Not just for our grandson, but for your grandchildren, your children, your nieces, and nephews, and brothers, and cousins, and great-grandchildren, and sisters, and every person from everywhere, all over the damn place.

This is going to be tough. This is going to be the hardest election campaign in memory. It shouldn't be. It should be a lock and landslide. But we all know too well how the media works for themselves, and against us. We know that there are mountains of ignorance and fear and hatred to overcome.

One vote at a time. Persuade, inform, educate.

For the ages.

I have two nieces who are mixed-race, and I thought the same things.

:kick: