Jose Conde wrote and performed the song "Respondele a Obama," in this video by Nicole Betancourt:
One of the lyrics reads: "Pain that feels hope." We know we're in for rough times ahead. And we have some choices to make.
Either way there's going to be pain, there already is a lot of pain. Our most vulnerable fellow citizens are feeling it first, the sad canaries in the coal mine.
With McCain there will be pain with no hope, only the resignation that things will become inevitably worse.
With Obama there will be pain that feels hope.
As buhdydharma commented in his essay at Docudharma: Who are We, Now?:
As a carpenter, I can tell you that you can't build something new while the old structure is still there.
George Bush was a demolisher, not a constructor.
But by destroying the old America, he has given us the opportunity to create something new.
With McCain there is no chance to create something new. With Obama there is a chance. It's not up to Obama, it's up to us. He won't be a god or a savior; he'll work right alongside us ... and we'll make sure of that.
I'm not afraid of pain if there is hope. Pain has always been part of life. So has change.
And I'm not talking about Pollyanna hope, either.
I'm writing about the hope that comes when there is a chance to do something. It's that chance that gives the hope, not certainty or guarantees.
With McCain/Palin and the Republican monster machine, there is no chance.
Respondele a Obama!