The Audacity of Hope.

at this turning point in all of our lives, emotions run deep; i feel the anxiety of a nation in the eyes of supporters at rallies on the television. it has truly been a long eight years, and for the first time in my life, i feel a connection to the history of our nation. sure, i have voted before, but i never before knew what my vote actually meant. in a conversation with my girlfriend today, i asked what it must feel like to live in a state that turns red, or turns blue, in every election. does your vote really still count? to this, i realize that the answer is, yes. at some point, in some year, a state can change color. look at virginia this year. and arizona for that matter. one vote really can tip the seesaw.

with that being said, i know hawaii is, and always will be a democratic state. but once i heard the news of barack obama's grandmothers passing, i wondered if she had voted. i had said a few weeks back, that i hoped she could hang on until election day. today, when the news of her passing came, it was my hope that at least she had had the opportunity to vote in this historic, her last, election. and so, i was humbled to see this:

Ms. Dunham’s absentee mail ballot was received and reviewed under the Hawaii standards for processing absentee mail ballots… She was alive at that time. Her ballot will be opened tomorrow, and it will be counted in the same way that all absentee voters would be treated under our law. [slog]

and as he heroically spoke at a rally in north carolina, only hours after receiving the news of her passing, he peacefully called her a "quiet hero" — "like a lot of quiet heroes in the crowd, in the country..." as he continued to speak, with his voice mostly steady, with tears streaming down his right cheek — the first public tears he has shed, as far as we've seen, in his time on the national stage. when he finished, he reached inside his pocket, pulled out a white handkerchief, wiped his eyes, and carried on with his speech, returning a few times to the woman who shaped his character as much as anyone in the world.

on a different day, in a different year, such meditations on the emotional life of a politician might seem treacly. maybe to some they do, even now. but in the context of a historic election, and of a candidate who has earned a reputation for being unflappable, it is hard not to be moved.

ms. madelyn dunham, matriarch of hope for a nation, may she rest in peace.

More than any time in recent history, America's destiny is of our own choosing. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight, but every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we're reminded that that capacity may well be limitless. This is a time for American heroes. We will do what is hard, we will achieve what is great. This is a time for American heroes and we reach for the stars. God bless their memory, God bless you and God bless the United State of America. --Jed Bartlett

[via twiztv, gawker]