Yes!

I’ve had a killer cold for the past few days, so last night when the election results were coming in, I was curled up in an armchair while Brandon and Caleb were watching the results trickle in. My heart couldn’t take the maybe yes/ maybe no, not after these eight years. I sat there and read Dreams from My Father. Maybe you’ve heard of it, by a Mr. Barack Obama?

It was a very soothing evening, the sort of hopeful one that I haven’t had in many years. I thought about the small throng of people at the polling place in front of the “First Time Voters” table I saw earlier that day. I thought about the fact that issues I care about (and have written about in Brain, Child and in my book)—like what place government has in our lives, health care, the stock market’s weaknesses—were actually part of a national conversation now. I thought especially about my friends at the Virginia Organizing Project and how thrilled they must be that one of their own would be in the executive branch.

I woke up this morning like it was Christmas. Ooh, what did the American electorate bring me last night? A President-Elect Obama?

Yes, you did.

Hey, if you’re excited about the momentum (and I know, not all of you are) and live in Virginia and want to keep up on local and state-wide issues, check out VOP. It's like in the Chicago part of Dreams from My Father, except, you know, both here and now.

Earnest and out.