Yes, we did

Barack Hussien Obama, a 47-year-old man of mixed race has been elected president of the United States by both popular and electoral vote. A bit more than an hour ago Senator John McCain conceded the hotly contested race and offered his help to the new president elect, and President George W. Bush extended his congratulations and the promise of a smooth transition.

And Senator Obama just gave his acceptance speech in Chicago, the theme? "Yes, we can."

Tomorrow will be full of analysis and discussion, and in a few months the president elect will take office and have to deal with the reality of the country. It's a mess, and I'm sure he will disappoint all of his supporters on some things, and fail to deliver on some of his promises. We can hope that those failures are fewer rather than more, but to some degree they are an inevitable part of the game.

But tonight...tonight the first black president of this country stood on a stage and, with those three words, "Yes, we can," reminded us of all that is RIGHT in America. He reminded us how, over the last century, we have faced economic hardship, war and social injustice, and overcame it. He reminded us of the spirit that won wars, won the right to vote and planted an American flag on the moon.

The future is going to be hard, it's going to be messy but, if we, the people can work together it will get better, we will get better. Yes, we can.