Election Day

Tomorrow is it. The Culmination of 21 months of the Official Obama campaign. For me it's more like the culmination of 4 years.

It seemed like so long ago, and yet so fresh in my memory..

I was watching the Democratic National Committee with my cousin when this dude named Barack Obama took the stage, I had never heard of him before but when he was done I was completely choked up. What was so remarkable about his speech that day was that he managed to strike a something inside of me that I beleive is at the core of America and everything we symbolize; Hope.

I remember thinking back then wouldn't it amazing if Barack Obama would one day be president. Of course back then it was nothing but a daydream. He was black, and nobody thought America was ready for a black president. Still I thought I might live to see the day Obama became president.

That day came sooner than later.

When he announced his campaign I made my first political contribution. It was 5 dollars. That 5 dollars was one of the first 100,000 donations to his campaign. A campaign that now has millions of donors.

These 21 months following this campaign have been awesome. I got to meet Obama twice, I also got to do a good amount of volunteer work. I started dialogues with random strangers in front lawns and parking lots that I will never forget. I stayed up watching every single primary.

When we were up I rejoiced and blasted Springsteen, when were down I listened to his primary speech in New Hampshire, where he coined his slogan YES WE CAN!

No matter what the outcome tomorrow, even if he wins in a landslide, I write tonight with a sleepless heavy heart because I know that the last 21 months were so historical and so powerful that I don't think myself or this nation will fully grasp it for years to come.

People ask why I donated to Obama, or why I volunteerd for him and I always respond with things like "I beleive we need change" or "we need to fix the economy" but really it's more than that. It has to do with the American spirit and progress.

Maybe it's silly but I beleive my part in this campaign is part of a historical tradition. It started with ragtag patriots, with Thomas Paine, and it continued with the spirt of pioneers and immigrants, the progressives, with FDR, and Kennedy, with Martin Luther king, and Civil Rights. the list goes on...I feel like I helped write another page of American history. My spirit is the same spirit hidden within the photographs of the crowd outside the Washington Monument listening to Martin Luther King's dream. The same spirit of the soldiers at Valley Forge who gave all for the cause of Indepdendence when it was all too bleak, the same spirit that drove African Americans to freedom rides and sit ins.

Whenever I felt like the road was too hard for Obama, and trust me there were, this is what I remembered.

Tomorrow I will not vote for myself, I will vote for America. I will vote for the Millions of people who need my vote, and the millions still yet to come.

We can heal this country, we can give liberty and opportunity and hope to all.... I beleive this.

YES WE CAN