Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The Real Results

Okay, so maybe the Electoral Vote margin was not the largest in over 50 years.

But it was big.

And it was important, in many ways.

John McCain is a great man, and he is one of the most decent, straight politicians in Washington DC. He is intelligent, competitive and a true loyal patriot. I would have been just as happy for him to be my President as Obama. But that is not how it turned out.

Last night, watching the election returns, I felt a swell of pride in our country. I felt more promise than I have in 4 or 5 years. Most elections have given me this hope, the previous one did not.

I understand the historic nature of the moment we all watched. And by "we all", I mean the whole world. And I enjoyed all of it.

I saw people relieved, amazed, excited. I saw Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey and so many others with tears on their cheeks.

I saw last night our future, in the calm, intelligent, confident demeanor of the new American leader.

This was the real beginning of the new century.

It is a huge moment for us all. This is so powerful in so many ways. Most of us do not even realize what this means, but it will affect us and the world for a long time. It is a very good thing.

This is our chance to prove to ourselves and to the world that we can learn, we can improve, we can do better than we have.

There will likely come a time when America is not the most powerful nation economically, or militarily, but we can still lead the world if we use this opportunity wisely and well.

I believe Barack Obama and Joseph Biden are the right men to make this promise a reality.

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