I like a bit of poetry in my politics.

Until recently, I was convinced that inspirational politics, in the sense of a leader rising up and inspiring citizens to aspire to greater heights, was the stuff of history, if it ever really existed at all. I find it hard to imagine generations past who actually had to fight to effect change--what could compel them to forget themselves for long enough to storm the Bastille? What nobility there must have been in the souls of the Mexican peasants who, at the dawn of the past century, decided that they'd had enough. Those who have been as fortunate as I grew up a bit jaded; we saw what happened to the generations of the '60s and '70s. We've watched them decay in suburbs. It never occurred to me that it might take a special kind of inspiration to act as a catalyst for self-investment in political life, or that that inspiration could come from a politician.

Barack Obama's candidacy has had me reflecting on a lot of different issues, but the theme that emerges the strongest, which my recent training may have given me the ability to see more easily than others might, is that some times are simply more able to effect change than others--Obama knows this; this is why he quotes Dr. King's masterfully phrased line: "the fierce urgency of now." He also knows that his candidacy is not entirely about himself, but largely about what hopes and aspirations people my age project onto the newness he offers. This feels like a turning point in history; those of us who are hopeful will either be vindicated, or disillusioned, and soon. Obviously, I hope for vindication; but even in disillusionment's, I will have learned something valuable about what it is like to be profoundly affected by the charisma of a time, place, and person, and if nothing else, my scholarship will be better for it.

Maybe it'll get you too, at least a little. Here's part of his concession speech from New Hampshire-- you'll see what i mean:

We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. And they will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks and months to come.

We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.

It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: Yes, we can, to justice and equality.

Yes, we can, to opportunity and prosperity. Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can repair this world. Yes, we can.

...

Together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story, with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea: Yes, we can.