Cathartic...

That's the only way to describe how I felt today. All day. Sure, we've elected the first black man to be President. We've repudiated 8 years of a failed and stolen presidency, and 30+ years of failed economic policy and its driving ideology. But we've also shown that a grassroots, bottom-up candidacy, driven by loose associations of motivated and smart people, can wrest power away from the monied elites and start turning the ship of state towards change. And we did it not with the divisive and dismissive style that the Lee Atwater Republicans of the world have come to rely on, but with an inclusive campaign that emphasizes the common while still acknowledging and respecting our differences.

I walked the streets this morning and everything seemed more alive. There was a spring in peoples' steps...even though many of them were hung over and tired from last night's spontaneous street parties celebrating Obama's victory. The guys digging up the street for the DPW all had smiles on their faces. The meter maid had a spring in her step as she wrote parking citations. The folks behind the counter at the coffee shop moved around as if they floated on air. And it wasn't just because we finally see the end of eight long years of a terrible presidency. No, these folks seemed like they were enjoying life more because once again they had hope.

If America can elect a black man, a man from humble beginnings, a man who's articulate and intelligent, a man who has unquestionable integrity and an appetite for change...if America can finally, FINALLY make the right and obvious choice...then we may well come through these turbulent times intact. Gone is the idea of America as a third world nation. Gone is the idea that it's OK to torture people and invade countries for their oil. Gone are the crass political calculations driven by the idea that might makes right. Gone are the cynical politics of self-destruction, division and culture war, displaced at last by the politics of positive change and the identification of ourselves as Americans...not as baptists, pentecostals, latte liberals, rednecks, midwesterners, or America-haters, but as Americans. We're at the beginning...not the end. We can be the new Greatest Generation. Yes, we can.