The enormity of what happened yesterday is still sinking in. I was wrong in 2000, and again in 2004, so while I thought Barack would win in a landslide yesterday, I didn't really get my hopes up (I was prepared to be wrong). And even after CNN projected victory, I still wasn't sure what to think.

But during Barack's amazing acceptance speech, it started to sink in. A process that is still occurring today. Here is how the speech opened:

"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."

That is what I'm talking about. You live here, day in and day out, and see all of the crappy policy decisions, see people think small, be mean to each other, etc. And you start to think that this "American Dream" business is just something that they tell schoolchildren so that they'll behave, sortof like Santa Claus. But then this election happens, and we elect this amazing candidate, and get this amazing speech. Another passage that I'd like to cite:

"Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends...though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too."

What a great way to frame this -- Barack goes back, to the time of Lincoln, in order to look forward into the future. This gives me hope that he really will be a uniter, unlike George W. Bush.

I don't know when I've ever been prouder of America. When the chips are down, we get our shit together, and do the right thing. It's been awhile, a long while, since I really and truly had hope for the future. So in that sense, it is a brand new day, and I for one can't wait to see where this leads.

-Andy.