dressedtogo closing remarks

i decided that i would wait and give my closing remarks during the inauguration.

however, here i sit, glued to the tv… but i am speechless. the images, the people, the sunshine, the enormity of the moment…. they make any words useless. there is no way for me to capture these feelings.

so, i guess those are my closing remarks. we are so moved and so in awe of how big of a moment this is, that all we can do is enjoy it. be in the moment. celebrate with our loved ones. and know that in this country, anything is possible.

you had to be there.

dressedtogo Closing Remarks…

… will be posted during the Obama Inauguration.

A New Day

From will.i.am, the creator of the viral “Yes We Can!” song and video. 

Humility, Respect, Generosity

Closing remarks from Cheops

For me, the most moving aspect of Barack Obama’s campaign has been his consistent focus on us, on “we, the people.” He has always placed the potential for change in our hands. He values us and believes in us and calls on us to be our best selves. Obama’s soberness, humility, and deep respect for diverse ideas are core principles all of us should seek to emulate (WWOD – what would Obama do?). Although I am not a religious person, the Prayer of St. Francis comes to mind when I think about Obama and our potential as a people: make me an instrument of peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; and where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. It is easy to love the lovable, to show respect to those who share our beliefs and ideas. Remaining calm and generous in the face of disagreement is much, much harder. But Obama has modeled this for us. He has said throughout this campaign that he will listen to us, especially when we disagree. The most touching and poignant moment from his victory speech last night was when he talked directly to those Americans whose support, he says, he has yet to earn. His reaction to flipping eight “Bush states,” to securing a mandate, was not boastful—it was humble. He sees himself as a servant to something bigger than himself—his community, his country, humanity, the earth, the world. Obama has inspired us to come together in a remarkable way. He has set in motion a movement that I believe can extend beyond the reaches of any one day. This movement, driven by the powerful belief that this nation “shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,” is one that I am both grateful and humbled to be a part of.

We Had The Power All Along

Closing remarks from Babyjonr

 

You know the part where Dorothy walks out the door and the world is suddenly technicolor? She was thrown into the air by a tornado and has landed in OZ. She walks out of her house, and the film is no longer black and white. That’s where I was thinking my metaphor for this incredible historic day lay. Suddenly everything is different, change is all around, and anything is possible. There is magic in the air. But this moment in the story was just the beginning of Dorothy’s journey. There was so much for her to learn. A long, winding and tiring yellow brick road to follow. People of all different kinds yet to meet. People who at first seemed so different and perhaps scary, but people who ended up having courage, and brains, and heart, just like her. Things to encounter that first she feared but eventually learned to embrace and love. Or, if they were truly evil, things she found the courage to battle with the help of her newfound friends. No, the change to technicolor was just the beginning of a new life for Dorothy. The metaphor for today is not the reveal of a strange, surreal world. The metaphor for today is at the end of The Wizard of Oz. It is where Dorothy is told by Glinda The Good Witch that the power was inside her all along. The power is within Dorothy herself to create the difference she desires. The power to change through her own will and dreams and a touch of magic. Yes, the real metaphor is there. When Dorothy is back in Kansas, back at home, in her bed, and she looks up to realize that you and you and you were all there all along. That over the rainbow was right here the entire time. That anything is possible and that nothing will ever be the same. There is no place like home, yes, but now, with knowledge and hope and action, the rest of the world and the future isn’t as scary as it once appeared.

 

I Looked For Him

 

Closing remarks from Lyndaforo

I looked for him for such a long long time and then I found him. And for over four years every day I have said his name out loud. July 2004 the journey began. One day at a time, one step at a time and blessed with so many good people who chose to travel along. We have ended that journey and we now stand at the foot of the mountain. The mountain is high but our strength is great and we have proven to be good travelers. Now we begin a new adventure, a new journey, and a new day. So with much hope and prayer we begin and god bless America.

 

The Beginning of The End. The Start of a New Dream.

Closing remarks from scrutin

This is the beginning of the end. The beginning of the end of two wars in the Middle East, to be sure, but more importantly it is the beginning of the end of a war within this country. 44 years ago The United States united to support the Civil Rights Act. Today we see the ultimate manifestation of this dream. Barack Obama represents so much. He raised himself up from humble beginnings and difficult times. He is notably multiracial. His life experiences have taught him about other religions and other cultures. He represents so much of America. He brings hope for something so much better.

I am 42 years old. I have seen a great deal of change in this country, some for the better and some for the worse. I never thought I would see this happen in my lifetime. Now that it is here I feel great pride in my country. I am enormously optimistic about our collective future.

The Obama campaign was deeply grassroots. He built a powerful organization that will forever change the way politics work in this country. He proved out the power of working from the bottom up. Barack Obama’s greatest challenge going forward will be to live up to the profound hopes and expectations that have been place on his shoulders. He has a powerful base to build on, an army of young and old committed to public service.

The hopes of not only this country, but of the world, who overwhelmingly supported him, rest upon him. He has already demonstrated his ability to surround himself with great people. If his campaign is any indication, his administration will be historic.

We awoke today a new nation, and there is much work still to do. It is time to end the war, to mend the fences, to join hands and lift each other up. It is time to move this nation forward.

Yes we can.

Hell yes, we did.

Mandate

President Obama!!!!!!!!!!!

The Votes Are In And…

Live Blogging with Cocktails….

i have avoiding the web all day. and the tv. way too nervous. i have been feeling like i am going to puke all day. but now, enjoying some cocktails and calming down. so here we go..

8:10 EST: PA is called. boom. major, major boom.

8:30 EST: VA too close to call. now more nervous. puke again. msnbc calls NC senate race. dole loses. chuck todd says IN too close to call. obama picking up bush territory. jesus.

did anyone read this statement by steve schimdt today? doesnt sound too confident, does he?

8:41 EST: winner of this election: chuck todd. and curry / buchanan.

8:50 EST: i am thrilled at how well obama is doing in IN. must be because of cheops.

VA is still a nail biter. i am in the CO, NV camp, not necessarily the VA one. not sure about FL and OH either, but FL is looking optimistic, which is really something.

9:16 EST: nail biting continues… big pause in results… keep drinking. we’re money.

9:19 EST: sully on IN:

The exit polls show they went for Obama over McCain by 58 to 39 percent. If the exit polls are right, Obama’s going to win Indiana. Which means it’s over. I can’t yet quite believe it. But my self-protective denial is slowly breaking down.

9:25 EST: O H I O!!!!!!!

9:30 EST: meanwhile in IL 10th, mark kirk is ahead in lake county with cook not yet reporting. dan seals’ base is in cook. waiting…. WTF GOP is watching this race closely.

9:31 EST: N E W M E X I C O !!!!

two reds turned blue. signed, sealed… all he needs is CA, OR, WA… does not need VA, NC or FL now.

waiting for it to be official. i can not believe it. im 29 years old. and america just changed. god bless america.

10:41 EST: expecting 1 million people in grant park tonight. chi town in the house. sweet home.

im drunk with hope.

What To Look For Tonight

Newsweek has an hour-by-hour look at the election by none other than Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight fame. It is everything that the election fetishist could hope for.

It’s Here.

Yes We Can

You Should…

 

Find the polling spot nearest you HERE

 

And In The End

I spent the day on Sunday in a swing state out canvasing and making calls. The Obama office was a mess, it was chaotic. But the people there were extremely focused and full of energy. These people were going non-stop. When you look at the strength of the campaign effort that has grown up around Barack Obama on can’t help but be amazed. The level of participation shows that people are really ready to take back ownership of their government.

So what happened to the McCain campaign. The offices are neat and orderly, and empty. FiveThirtyEight has an interesting photo essay by Brett Marty on the lack of participation on the McCain side. It seems as if they have already given up.

 

   These ground campaigns do not bear any relationship to one another. One side has something in the neighborhood of five million volunteers all assigned to very clear and specific pieces of the operation, and the other seems to have something like a thousand volunteers scattered throughout the country. Jon Tester’s 2006 Senate race in Montana had more volunteers — by a mile — than John McCain’s 2006 presidential campaign.

Barack’s Beloved Grandmother Dies

Tragic news just one day before election. Barack Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has passed away.

Linda Douglass, a senior aide, said Obama learned of her death about 8 a.m. Eastern time today. She said Madelyn Dunham, 87, a woman who helped raise Obama, passed between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Eastern time.