Archive for June 3rd, 2008

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

We Are the Change We Seek

I joined the Barack Obama campaign nearly a year and a half ago, on January 16, 2007, the day the junior senator from Illinois announced his candidacy. I joined, not as a paid staffer or initially even a volunteer, but as a member of a movement.

Like many of Obama’s early supporters, I was initially drawn by Obama’s message of change and his eloquent speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

Beyond nice talk, however, I was particularly attracted to Obama’s message encouraging citizens to engage in their local communities. At the time, I told a number of my more skeptical friends, “Even if he loses, this country will be a better place for him having run.”

Tonight, Obama’s movement has passed the first hurdle, winning the Democratic nomination for president. Now the real work begins, not just for Obama, but for the movement.

There will be challenges, no doubt. There’s a substantial portion of this country that will claim that Obama is too young and too green to lead this country. There will be people that say they’re comfortable with the status quo and that it’s too “risky” to elevate this new voice to the presidency.

They’re wrong.

It will be up to the millions of members of this movement to counteract those claims, to show that this country is ready for change.

While we may elect one man in November, it’s the movement that will actually make the difference and change the face of this country.

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Because We Knew You…

… we’ve been changed for good.

This picture, from an event yesterday in South Dakota, seems to summarize the day pretty well. For some reason, it reminds me a lot of the picture of JFK during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

This country is better off for having had an energizing, inspiring and engaging primary season, the dividends of which will continue to pay off in the coming months.

For, as Churchill once said, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning.”

(Picture from Getty Images. Reproduced in low-resolution for artistic commentary.)

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Blogging via Google Docs

So in fiddling about with Google Docs‘ sharing settings, I noticed a new feature that appears to let docs be published as blog entries to major blogging platforms such as WordPress, so I wanted to try it out.