A beautiful day in the neighborhood

During the course of this blog’s 5+ years of history, I have generally avoided political talk as it just leads to childlike exchanges of “no, you’re a doo-doo head!”

In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m a bleeding heart liberal. However, I’ve managed to keep most of my conservative friends, because I don’t believe that shouting louder than those you disagree with and closing your ears to their ideas makes you a winner. (It’s a two-way street, of course, and those conservatives who are still friends believe the same thing.)

I think I’ve found a candidate for President who feels the same way.

I’m not entirely naive. I know that there is a difference between rhetoric and action. But at this point, I’m willing to take Senator Obama’s words at face value and have a little bit of hope for the future.

I don’t usually watch campaign or acceptance speeches, but in Obama’s case, I dropped what I was doing and rushed to the TV to hear this:

This weekend Caroline Kennedy said:

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president