Hope '08

What a start to a convention! I only hope the rest of the week can deliver such passion and emotion and inspiration. The beauty of the party system, is that, when implemented correctly, the party serves as a kind of large extended family, that we can truly laugh and cry and celebrate with. Tonight's convention reminded us of all those benefits that had been absent from the system for far too long. The reawakening of the Democratic party began in Denver tonight.

Ted Kennedy. What a man! How lucky we are to have gotten to watch him grow old, as Chris Matthews so eloquently put it. His political career not only showed us what integrity, commitment, and hard work really mean, but also gave us insight into what the Holy Trinity of Kennedy's could have accomplished. This was both the valiant culmination of his career, but also inspiration for the future, as he stood up, despite his conditions, and committed to fight one last fight along side us. Ted Kennedy, you're a real hero; you're my real hero. And not just because you have the courage to say the words straight and gay in a convention speech.

Michelle Obama was equally incredible tonight. The stories she told of her recognition of the American dream were profound, yet not self-righteous. They were all stories that we could relate to, just like those episodes of the Brady Bunch we watched together. And all of her stories were told in a wonderful, motherly fashion, that reminded us what it means to be a strong woman. In Michelle's speech, she exemplified all the qualities that Hillary Clinton lacked throughout her campaign. But instead of pointing this out, Mrs. Obama stood up this evening and embraced Hillary Clinton as a sister, as a Democrat. All of the tenderness and emotion that we embrace in women combines with intuition and strength and perspective in the figure of Michelle Obama. She is going to make an excellent first lady, epitomizing the qualities that the position requires.

But the most striking part of Michelle's speech, like the rest of the night, was meeting the family. At the end, she brings out her beautiful daughters, only to surprise them and light up their faces with their daddy on the massive video phone. As mother and children stood up there, waving to daddy, is out doing his job and helping people as always, we felt as though they were our children, and that he was our daddy, coming to help us move forward. Seeing Teddy Kennedy speak tonight was almost like him passing the torch to Barack Obama and a new generation of Democrats to keep up the fight. As we saw Grandpa Teddy fighting his last fight, and reminisced about the heroes of yesterday's Democratic family, we also met and embraced the new heroes of our party, the Obama's. This night has been like one big family reunion, and it served its purpose. The Democratic party has been successfully reunited, and undoubtedly, united we shall stand.