Barack.

I have... something I'd like to say today. Over the past two years, I have been neck-deep in politics. I have followed the election since everyone has been saying "but its two years away!" And its because I want so much for this country to be ok. I've been searching for an answer for so long, that when the time came for someone to take Bush's place, I was chomping at the bit to know more. To learn who these men were. As time passed... to learn who these WOMEN were. I knew it was going to be a time of big change, not only a shifting of power, but with the first woman as the speaker of the house, and with my recent return from my first trip to Washington D.C., I could feel something in the air. Not a cloud looming overhead, but a stirring of something... something... hopeful. And who comes along to set ablaze that little spark in my heart? Barack Obama, bellowing "FIRE IT UP!" with every step on the campaign trail. Hope-mongering be damned, that man made me feel alive. He made me feel a true and unfaltering hope that this country could be better, that my people could be better, that we could reclaim our position as leaders of the free world, and again help our brothers and neighbors because finally, we can once again help ourselves. We can be whole, we can be good. That is what Obama said to me, and that is what I felt when I shook his hand. Looking at Barack Obama (now I'm going to be a little emotional, here), often brings tears to my eyes. What he believes in, what he wishes for all of us, is what I have so longed for in my knowledge of the world around me. I have wanted to shout from rooftops, "WE HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE THE WORLD... We are better than these last eight years... Yes we can... ENOUGH." Obama, is me speaking out, he is you, and my mom, and my friends, and everyone I have ever heard complain that the system doesn't work for them. The republican system doesn't work for us, Barack Obama, HOPE, FAITH, STRENGTH, that works for us. We used to be a country that helped however and whomever we could, now we can hardly sustain ourselves. I can feel it, and I've felt it for a long time. I know you can feel it, too. When I look at Barack Obama, I see the best in all of us. I see JFK, I see John Adams, I see my grandfather. I feel his warmth, dedication, passion, and heart. Its time for us, all of us, to have someone like that be the leader of our world. Its time for a return to our ideals, a time to remember what used to be good, and how we were good to eachother. He will lead the way. He is the one to bring us back, because he knows that he cannot do it alone, and that is the difference between our next president and John McCain. WE as the American people can only battle through the tough times and make things better for ourselves. Barack can only be a strong leader, whispering in our ears words of encouragement and hope. We must do the work ourselves, and Barack can be the leader we need to change this country we have let fall apart at our feet. It's time to take back what was given to us, and appreciate all the we as Americans have, and find that place again wehre we can use our fortune to help the world, and to be the kind of Americans our ancestors hoped for for the future. We say we are the land of the free, the home of the brave, and there is no greater gift than to be an American. Under Barack Obama, i might just start to feel the truth in that again.