Martin Luther King, Jr in 1966 said, "We will be able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope. This will be a great America. We will be the participants in making it so. So as I leave you I say, Walk together children, don't ya get weary."
Two years ago, I told my cousin at Christmas, that Barack Obama would be the next President. He, like many gay men, was an adamant Hillary supporter and wouldn't hear of it - besides, who was Barack Obama anyway. I said, "just watch." Like many of you, there was something about Barack from early on that made us know he had a call to leadership.
The primaries were just 10 months ago - Iowa shocked the nation. I have to admit, I thought he'd win NH...and then he lost. It was a long primary battle that saw me doing work in WI and IN, voting absentee in NC, phonebanking TX, OH, PA, WI, NH, MO and some others.
And yet, I've really done nothing compared to people like kath25 or casperr or many others. So here we are. Less than 24 hours. Many people are hopeful, joyous, confident, etc.
And that's nice.
But did you vote? Did you ask (as I just did) your nurse and the receptionist to vote? Did you call people? Have you knocked on a door today - or at least the person in the grocery store?
You can still do GOTV. You can cheer on voters tomorrow (and vote yourself). In 2004, my first presidential election, it rained in Weaverville, NC so I took a couple of umbrellas and let people use them as they waited.
Leave it all on the road. You can rest on Wednesday. You can rest next month. This election ends tomorrow and it's for keeps. There's no "next contest". One day to vote and to complete the work that so many of us began over a year ago.
I'm posting some words and videos - none to suggest we've won because we haven't won a damn thing. But some inspiration to commit just a little bit more time, just a few more phone calls and people.
I'm struck again by King's words from "I have a dream." He says, "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood." And now, those sons may be close to electing Senator Barack Obama the next President - but only if we get them out to the polls.
Because somebody stood up, then some more stood up and then a few thousand stood up...and then a few million. And standing up with courage and clear purpose, they somehow managed to change the world.
We Shall be Free (Garth Brooks singing with a lot of Obama pics)
We are the ones we've been waiting for
Yes, We Can. Si, Se Puede!