Dear President Elect Obama,
My wife, my two-month-old son and I were in Grant Park tonight to be part of your Victory Party. Your candidacy, campaign and victory were just what this country -- and my two sons -- needed. Most point to the historic part of this campaign being that the first African-American was elected President. I believe this campaign was all about change -- which you nailed with your campaign theme.
When I was about 12-years-old, I wanted to be President. I caught the political bug at an early age. Working on the 1984 Presidential campaign cured me. Your campaign made me excited about politics for the first time since I gave it all up nearly 25 years ago.
You seemed to be the only candidate that was in touch with our times. The current President and his Administration created such a disaster. The country has been in such an emotional funk. We've felt like we had no power to change anything and everything was going wrong. The other candidates offered various versions of let's do it the same way but I'm better so we'll be better. Hillary, your main rival, had nothing to offer the country but more of the same with a woman at the head.
I truly believe the color of your skin didn't matter. You could have been White, Hispanic, Green, Blue or Red. You preached the right message at the right time and you looked, acted and were different. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream came true: you were judged by the content of your character rather than the color of your skin. Those that think this campaign was about electing the first Black President missed the point. The point was: We need different right now and you offered it.
I have two little boys. I want them to understand how truly historic this election was. The only way they'll know that is if you make your Presidency truly about change. Please don't do a Bill Clinton on us and govern from the Center and do only what seems easy and possible. We need change starting with a new attitude. We need to get people excited about politics and government. We need people to start thinking for themselves and to realize that these Right Wing idiots on talk radio are either stupid, lying to us or being paid by Special Interests. We need people to start thinking of the others rather than only about themselves. We need something to care about.
For my sons, please govern boldly. We need change.
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