My favorite poet, Dylan Thomas, writes,
"Time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
Before the children green and golden
Follow him out of grace."
This, of course, is true for all of us...life is short, and we all grow up too fast. I notice, however, that Thomas doesn't write "mourning songs," but "morning songs." A morning song must be a song of hope, a song of happiness, a song of renewal. As a high-school History teacher, I am too well aware that politics offers almost no morning songs. It's easy to talk about being a reformer, a maverick, about wanting to stand for change. The proof, however, is in the pudding—at the end of the day, despite the talk of mavericks and plumbers, most campaigns are waged with the same old strategies, playing on the same old fears.
In 2008, for the first time in my life, politics is allowing us a morning song. The song is still a work in progress, and while it's being written by Barack Obama, it's being sung by millions across the country. I have sung this song by donating what little money I can afford to a political campaign for the first time in my life; my brother has sung this song by knocking on doors and dialing telephone numbers; many of my 18-year old students have sung this song by proudly casting the first votes of their lives for Barack Obama. I would like to thank President-Elect Obama, Joe Biden, the campaign staff, and millions of extraordinary Americans, for proving that the green and golden children haven't followed time out of grace yet.