I tried to stay focused.
I tried to remember what this election is really about.
I tried to stop worrying about statistical noise in daily tracking polls.
I tried to remember who Barack Obama is really running against.
I tried to remember the millions of hard working Americans, their diversity and the obstacles they face.
I tried to remember how destructive the last 8 years of Bush's presidency has been, and how John McCain has fought alongside him every step of the way to help put this country in the sorry state it's in today.
I even tried to remember the real issues and where each candidate stands, or of the candidates even had a plan to address them at all.
But I couldn't.
The Chicken Littlers were clucking too loud.
The armchair strategists were drowning out all my thoughts with their constant second guessing.
The concern trolls were too persuasive with their "woe is we" arguments.
So, I gave in to popular opinion.
I decided that instead of trusting Barack Obama, instead of continuing to fight for what's best for this country, instead of fact checking the lies and distortions of John McCain and his instant celebrity running mate, there was only one thing I could do contribute to one of the best progressive blogs in the world:
I decided to freak out.
Suddenly, I felt so much better.
Once my composure was restored, I decided to take the advice of Plutonium Page and watch Barack Obama's acceptance speech one more time. You see, since I knew it was a history making occasion I figured I'd better record it in glorious HD quality so I could show it to my only daughter and tell her about how I felt the day we finally unified the Democratic party and put our country back on the right track. Maybe you didn't get to see the speech. Maybe you forgot all about it in the hullabaloo about the nasty nobody from the North and how "great" her mean spirited sneerfest was, when everybody knows she was reading from a speech that had already been written before she was even chosen to be VP. If so, I thought I'd be kind enough to embed it here in its entirety to remind you what a REAL speech sounds like:
Here's my challenge to anyone who's Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Green Party, Alaska Independence Party, whatever: just listen to the speech. Compare Barack's vision for America to what spewed forth from the rancid piehole of Caribou Barbie last week. Then you tell me: which America would you rather live in?
You can probably guess which one I choose.
The GOP has had their week of spin, distortion, smear, stock photo video tributes, Benedict Arnold politicians, grumpy B-list actors, overdressed wives in gaudy outfits wearing tacky hats, animatronic ex-presidential candidates, lying ex-beauty pageant runner-ups, hypocritical preachers, snarling cross dressing mayors and broken down Mavericks trying to reinvent themselves as you and me. It was a lot of noise and bluster. It was full of sleight of hand. They did a great job with their smoke and mirrors. They spent all week Pretending they weren't really Republicans. They went out of their way to mock and ridicule people who dare think they can improve this country. They did little to hide their disgust at anyone - scratch that, EVERYONE - who dares fight for those who are unable to fight for themselves. They made Barack Obama the lightning rod for all their venom, derision and hate, but they didn't do it because he's black. They didn't do it because he's from Harvard. They didn't do it because he uses big words or draws bigger crowds.
They did it because he dares say what you've been waiting years to hear.
But, as Barack said so forcefully in his acceptance speech:
ENOUGH!!!
Their time is up.
Their era is over.
They are so last week.
As of this moment, the stretch run to the election is ours. Its time to finish what we started.
So, do me a favor. Go to youtube. Go to JedReport. Find the videos of the convention speeches. Watch every second of footage you can find from that historical week, that moment that will forever be etched in history. Remember how it felt to be there, what you felt when watching at home. How inspired you were while watching real people with real ideas trying to fight for real solutions to America's problems.
Rediscover your purpose.
Rediscover that energy.
Rediscover that sense of resolve that kept you going through 19 months of organizing, phone banking, blogging, researching, donating, debating, canvassing and imagining what America could be like if we all banded together to fight for what we believe in.
And most of all.
Rediscover Barack Obama.
Get your head back into the game.
And let's go kick some GOP ass.