Hope is Alive

And optimism is back!

I was born 2 days before Carter was inaugurated, far too young to experience that man's presidency. I grew up inside the Beltway, listening to Grandpas Reagan and Bush preach nothing my parents believed in. I cried hard the night Dukakis was defeated, and pretty much gave up. Clinton was no salve-- by then I was old enough to be troubled by a man who clearly couldn't keep his word--not to the woman he fathered a child with, and certainly not to the thousands of poor women across the country whom he sent to work instead of college. He disappointed me time and again; by the end of his term I wished him good riddance.

W was the president that made me feel bitter and hopeless. Cynical, eager to leave the Beltway and DC far behind, dismissive of those who thought they could make a difference by working anywhere near Washington. So I find myself tonight in a small town of 12,000 in Wisconsin-- a safe haven, of sorts.

Now tonight-- the most amazing thing has happened. Despite a persistent black/white gap in educational achievement, the resegregation of our schools, rising tuition and stagnant rates of college completion...I am once again really an optimist! Because it has happened-- America has actively sought to reverse course and right the ship. It's a New Deal for us all-- Barack Hussein Obama is the President-Elect of the United States of America. Michelle Obama is the future First Lady. And the humble, forthright, and sensitive Joe Biden will replace the big Dick as VP.

GLORY GLORY Hallelujah. Obama, thank you for making it clear that this country is worthy of raising my son in.

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