A.D.

Hearts will never be made practical until they are made unbreakable.
The Wizard of Oz

nov 4th

In retrospect, at least for the Democratic primary candidates, it seems inevitable that the political juggernaut of the Obama campaign, of the man, and the machine that brought him in unprecedented ways, to the attention of voters and those who had never voted before, would rise to the top. No candidate, including McCain, has run a better campaign. And no candidate was more unexpected, in every which way. For those who had planned Clinton’s campaign starting on the Wednesday after the election in 2004, - this was in every way, an eventuality that was totally unplanned for. And the weight of the expectations are massive, should Obama become President. (And survives in office.)

But more than that, I think that the past two years, which has led up to this moment, has shown even the most hardened cynic that politics matter, that government can make a difference, for better or for worse, that people can change, and are looking for hope, that the best in us can be brought out, rather than the worst in us. Whatever happens tonight, whether this is confirmed or not, the journey of the past two years, in this country, from small steel towns in Pennsylvania, to the carworkers in Detroit, to the mansions of Orange County, has given everyone pause, and a moment in which they have realized their commonality. And the mantra of hope amidst despair?

It reminds me of a quote from Camus: In the depths of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.

proof

Proof

That I did always love,
I bring thee proof:
That till I loved
I did not love enough.\

That I shall love
always,
offer thee
That love is life,
And life hath
immortality.

This, dost thou doubt,
sweet?
Then have I
Nothing to show
But Calvary.

-Emily Dickinson

From: Poems by Emily Dickinson Series One
Edited by two of her friends
Mabel Loomis Todd and T.W. Higginson