A Brand New Day

You can turn the clock to zero, honey

I'll sell the stock, we'll spend all the money

We're starting up a brand new day

Turn the clock to zero, boss

The river's wide, we'll swim across

Started up a brand new day

(Sting – Brand New Day)

This morning starts a new day in this country.

I will admit, quite openly, that my guy did not win.

That being said, I am not totally ready to pack it in and board up the doors for the next two years.

This morning, strangely, I feel a sense of relief. A sense of change. A sense of hope.

Not because I believe that our new President will be the savior of this country, I do not.

It is because, this morning, I believe that from this day forward, there are no valid excuses. The word can’t no longer exists in our national vocabulary.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer…

America, we have come so far.

We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do.

So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see?

What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call.

This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope.

And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
(Barack Obama – Accptance Speech – 11/04/2008)

Congratulations Barack Obama, you have your work cut out for you.

You have given hope to so many who see, every day, the signs of hatred all around us. Your election has given hope to millions of youth who up until this day believed that because of the color of their skin, doors would never be open to them. You have shown them that their only barrier is the barrier that they place in their own way.

Just three weeks ago, as my son and his best friend played soccer, his friend was thrown to the ground by the opposing team and had the most vile of words spit into his face. And although my son will never feel the pain of this word in the way his best friend did, he understood the pain of his friend.

This morning, I have hope. I have no choice.

So in the words of John McCain….

I urge all Americans ... I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited. (John McCain – Concession Speech 11/04/2008)