We Don't Need No Color Code

From the pain come the dream

From the dream come the vision

From the vision come the people

From the people come the power

From this power come the change

... Peter Gabriel

It isn’t often I can sit in front of the television and see history like this occur.

History happens every day, and with the glutton of cable news channels, it isn’t hard to see news made hour by hour - even manufactured (if I accidentally put Fox on).

Tuesday night was different. As I hunkered down for another evening of watching political coverage, it dawned on me the relevance of what was about to occur. At some point, Barack Obama was going to surpass the total delegates needed and become the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party.

Now such an ending wasn’t completely a surprise to me. I thought he’d win it when he first announced his candidacy back in Springfield, Illinois (not the Springfield where the Simpson's live). I had my doubts at times. His early campaign reminded me of one of those up-and-coming teams that aren’t quite ready to win yet. Many of those teams have to lose one before they win one. When Hillary Clinton appeared assured of the nomination, I started to accept the idea that Obama might not win.Of course, a funny thing happened to Clinton’s coronation. She ran a lousy campaign. She rested on her laurels and her husband’s coat tails. She ran on inevitability instead running on change - in a change election. She took the nomination for granted, assumed Obama was too green to make a difference and figured she’d have the primary completed by Super Tuesday. Oops.

Now, Clinton is pretending she hasn’t seen the election results. She’s got her hands over her ears, yelling “Naaaa Naaaaa Naaaaa” to anyone trying to tell her she’s lost. The shoo-in is about to be told to shoo. Meanwhile, Obama has become the first African-American nominated to be president.

I don’t have any African-American roots. I can’t think of a time where racism has really impacted me. Yet, it was captivating to watch this great moment in history evolve right before my eyes. I got chills when he stepped to the podium in Minnesota with the roaring crowd behind him.

This was a shot heard round the world. America, a place that has been trying to combat racism and prejudice since its inception truly lived up to its doctrine of “All Men Are Created Equal.” Of course, Clinton apparently didn’t hear it. As this country was making history, she was too self involved to even acknowledge it.

Obama’s story is an amazing one. His father was from Kenya. His mother is from Kansas. He grew up in various places around the world and sought to find the American dream. His story isn’t unlike many of our own. My ancestors were English, Scottish, German and Irish - the only French I have in me apparently is from French Fries and French Toast. They all came to this country looking for a new start and new possibilities.

Certainly, there have been presidential candidates that are products of American’s great melting pot, but none like Obama. He has lifted the discourse, or at least tried, above race. He has shown that it is not the color of one’s skin but the brightness of one’s ideals. He has brought a message of hope and change. He has hinted at the dawning of a new age, where people share ideas, hopes and dreams with civility and understanding. He has weathered, thus far, the race-baiting of the Clinton's and the smear tactics of the Republicans with dignity and class.

He has given reason to care about politics again and care about the direction of our country, bringing some hope that a difference can actually be made. I am proud to have been able to attend the caucus in Maine during the primary election and be part of his victory in our state. It was a state assumed that Clinton would win, but Maine was part of his string of consecutive victories that paved the way to the nomination.

Generations of this country have worked for this moment. Men and women have died for the cause of freedom and equality. Obama’s nomination shows the progress that has been made and that what is right can overcome the fundamental wrongs that are interwoven in our history. I’d be naive to think that racism and prejudice has been eradicated. There will be people that won’t vote for Obama because he’s black. There are others that are just as closed minded that will not vote for him because of his name. It is still sad that such a modern society can still have people promote such hatred and a lack of understanding.

This journey to reach equality and the ideals this Democratic society was built upon still has a ways to go. While President Jugears tries to force-feed democracy down the throats of people in the Middle East, Obama’s nomination serves as a true example of democracy at work. Obama promised to bring change when he began his candidacy and with Tuesday’s victory in the primary, he has delivered just that.