Hope Wins Out

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." -President-elect Barack Obama

[Update: this letter from one of Andrew Sullivan's readers actually made me well up (more than I did during Obama's acceptance speech):

Nothing in my life has actually changed in the 30 minutes since it was announced Obama will be our next president. I have the same bills, the same amount of money in the bank, my dishwasher is still broken, and my 5 month old beagle won't stop peeing on my carpet. Everything in my life is exactly the same as it was 30 minutes ago; and yet I feel as though everything is different.

I feel so much hope. I feel so much pride. I feel like my one vote was a single drop of water in a great Tsunami of change. I feel like I was one of a million voices screaming in the night, " I love my country and I'm taking it back!" I'm so proud of the country that I love and have so much hope in my heart that we can together heal the wounds that have been such a source of pain and anger to us all.

I know Obama isn't going to fix the economy overnight, I know he won't be able to provide healthcare to all Americans by February '09. I know Obama isn't a Messiah who four years from now will have turned this country into a fabled utopia. But I also know Obama will make moral decisions. I know Obama will try to unite where others try to divide. I know Obama will help to make America the beacon of hope it once was to others. I know that at 27 years of age, I witnessed one of the most important and hopefully glorious chapters in American history.

I know hope.

I couldn't have said it better myself.]

[Update II: I just got this text from the Obama campaign: "We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion to this campaign. All of this happened because of you. Thanks, Barack."

That was nice of him; you'd think with being elected the next President of the United States and all that he wouldn't have had the time to thank little old me personally. I didn't even realize that we were on a first name basis; he's sweet.]