Yes We Can

Life is full of hardships. Yet it is in the midst of the hardship that character is built. It is in the midst of failure that hope emerges. It is in the midst of despair that leaders are born.

Last night we lost the New Hampshire Primary by 2%. While this loss was tough because we had a chance to put away the Democratic Nomination in New Hampshire, this loss is especially tough because I saw a year's worth of work from friends and family I love slip away in a matter of hours. Yet even with this setback, Obama will win this thing.

This is about more than just winning an election, it is about changing the world. And to all you cynics and skeptics I say, YES WE CAN.

Change Begins Tomorrow

As I prepare to fly out to New Hampshire tomorrow for the final week of campaigning for Obama before the NH primary on the 8th, I'm more anxious and hopeful than ever. But I sincerely HOPE and BELIEVE that this movement of change will begin tomorrow with an Obama win in Iowa, then New Hampshire, and will continue until the general election in November.

Today, with the Iowa Polls in a dead tie, it is not difficult to consider the possibility of an Obama victory. However let me assure you this was a much more difficult proposition back in the summer when Obama was down by over 20 points in every poll. But despite the ridicule of many cynics and friends, this is a hope that I firmly clung to. And tomorrow I believe that Hope will prevail.

Here's an excerpt of a post titled, "Dare to Hope" I wrote reflecting on my final day of the campaign in August. Hopefully it can remind you of the audacity of hope.


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8.27.07

As cliché as it sounds now, (on this campaign) I learned about the Audacity of Hope. In our imperfect world full of imperfect people there is a necessity for hope, a desire and belief of something better. I don’t think that we can live in this world without hope: whether it is hope in the goodness of people, hope in a better tomorrow or hope in God. Unfortunately, these days people are disillusioned by hope. They are afraid to hope because they are afraid of being let down or being wrong, and that fear is paralyzing.

It’s here on the Obama campaign that I once again discovered the audacity of hope. I’ll be honest, before I joined the campaign I was a cynic. I supported Obama but couldn’t bring myself to believe that he could win. I couldn’t bring myself to put my hope in him. But here in Manchester I met thousands of people who had put their hope in Obama, everyone from the staff worker waking up at dawn to assemble the press clips to the single mother who had shown up with her child to volunteer for the campaign. It was remarkable and it challenged me to hope once again. And it was hope that sustained me through the 12 hour days, it was hope that helped me survive the sweltering nights on the couch and it is hope that allows me to believe that Barack Obama can and will be sworn in as President on January 20, 2009.

I double-dog dare you to HOPE.

throwing out the plan book

If all goes to plan, in ten years I will be happily married with a couple of kids settling down in the suburbs. If all goes to plan, I’ll be financially secure and living a comfortable lifestyle. If all goes to plan, I’ll be very content with my life. But is being “content” good enough? What up’s and down’s, excitements and downfalls will I forgo living life according to my “plan book.” The last thing I want is to look back at my life with regret, knowing that I could have done great but settled for alright. I don’t want to live my life afraid of risks; rather I want to live my life embracing risks.

I truly respect men who live with a greater vision and a sense of purpose. As RFK said, “Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital, quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change.”

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I have absolutely no idea what the next three weeks have in store for me, but I know this for certain, I’ll never look back ten years from now and wonder what could have been.

(written 8/6/07)