Barack The Vote

Barack Obama is officially running for President. I'm for the first time in a long time encouraged by the words spoken by a politician.

Here is my reaction to some excerpts:

And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States.

This was the first reference of a few that Obama made. It was pretty damn ballsy if you ask me but it reflects the type of person that Lincoln was. As far as I understand that part of our history, Lincoln saw an opportunity to change the country and make himself comparable among the greats.

The genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should take heart, because we've changed this country before. In the face of tyranny, a band of patriots brought an Empire to its knees. In the face of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free. In the face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out of poverty. We welcomed immigrants to our shores, we opened railroads to the west, we landed a man on the moon, and we heard a King's call to let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

We've all heard this sort of talk before, but not even after 9/11 has this resonated so well.

More Lincoln references:

That's what Abraham Lincoln understood. He had his doubts. He had his defeats. He had his setbacks. But through his will and his words, he moved a nation and helped free a people. It is because of the millions who rallied to his cause that we are no longer divided, North and South, slave and free.

It is because men and women of every race, from every walk of life, continued to march for freedom long after Lincoln was laid to rest, that today we have the chance to face the challenges of this millennium together, as one people - as Americans.

As Lincoln organized the forces arrayed against slavery, he was heard to say: "Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought to battle through." That is our purpose here today. That's why I'm in this race.

Here is the full text

You can't argue the "audacity" of Obama and his staff. To compare himself as a would be Lincoln is genius.

I said before that I'm encouraged and I'll tell you why. There are many people in this country that have learned how to survive the past 7 years. If Obama is right and he can unite a divided country, heal the wounds of a bleeding government, and if he is a Lincoln for our generation, maybe I can look forward to the next 4.