Pride

I'm not one to get overly emotional or patriotic but my love and devotion to my country equals that of anyone displaying 10 flags on their car. However, I am honestly humbled, awed, and swollen with pride today as I cast my vote for Barack Obama. After I finished, I sat down to wait for my wife to cast her ballot and I almost came to tears watching my fellow citizens complete their civic duty. I also learned that my neighbors shared my candidate, which made me feel much better as I live in an homogenous section of Atlanta mostly populated by persons of European descent (Although Decatur is pretty liberal by Georgia standards). I've never been this emotional in any prior election.

I've pondered the signifiance of this election on many occasions but last week the full impact hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn't move from my couch as I stared off into space feeling like a tiny yet powerful speck in this whole process. I'm only a single person in a nation of hundreds of millions but I can get Obama one step closer and that we, as a nation, are on the brink of electing an African-American as the leader of the free world. This is something that I can recall to my grandchildren as I tell the story of Obama's fight to gain the White House.

Moreover, Obama is a superior game-changing candidate regardless of the color of his skin. He's a rare combination of intelligence, charimsa, open-mindedness, and political skill. I see many of Bill Clinton's finest attributes in Barack Obama. I also feel he could be at least as successful achievement-wise and I'm confident he'll keep his pants zipped.

It's a great day!