Obama Poised to Lift America out of the Past

We are seeing record numbers of Democrats registering to vote, volunteering, and sending in their campaign donations this year. The unpopular record of the Bush administration is proving inescapable for the Republican Party in 2008 (in contrast with their 2004 victory against odds that favored Kerry and the Democratic Party).

Americans are showing their disdain for the Bush administration by seriously considering the removal of many incumbent Republican Senators and Representatives. Such incumbents are finding themselves touting their bipartisanship and any support they can muster from prominent Democrats. In addition to their desperate appeals to Democrats, Republicans are publicly disowning their own party (i.e. Senator Gordon Smith (R) of Oregon) just to have a chance at reelection. This goes to show how unsettled our country is with the Republican party.

But probably the most significant of all changes in public mindset is seen in the likelihood of electing a 47 year-old, first term U.S. senator of mixed race President of the United States (peculiar name and all). The fact that he beat Hillary Clinton, someone who many pundits predicted to be a shoe-in President and the Democratic nominee just about by default, goes to show the resonance Obama's message of change and particularly hope, had on the American people.

In his stirring speeches, ranging from the 2004 Convention to the 2008 Convention, he has articulated the plight of our country in a way that has Democrats, Independents and alienated Republicans showing their resounding approval. He has an uncanny ability, much like Bill Clinton before him, to shift our focus from the past and present to the future. No matter how terrible the circumstances, the ability to lift the spirits of the American people with the notion of hope is evident in Barack Obama.

In the face of the Reverend Wright scandal that threatened to ruin his bid at the White House by alienating white voters, Obama brought black and white Americans together with a speech on race and politics that will likely have a place in history next to those of Dr. King.

In the hardest of times Obama displays an undeniable confidence in America, its people, and its spirit that is contagious. We trust him to fix our health care, we trust him to end our seemingly endless war, we trust him to fix our ailing economy, and we trust him to bring our country together and move us forward.

In closing I would like to leave you with a clip of Donna Brazile speaking candidly at a forum for The New Yorker Magazine. The first few minutes are on a bit of a tangent, but starting at the 3:00 mark she taps into exactly what Obama has done to many Americans with relation to bringing our country together and moving us forward into the future.