And yes, we did.

My husband, who until recently thought he’d never live to see this day, has been predicting a revolution. He felt that as the divide between the haves and the have-nots continued to widen, that there would come a moment when ordinary people would revolt and take to the streets in protest. Whenever he said this I envisioned scenes from history books and movies of the French Revolution.

This morning I remembered that the revolution has long been underway (I was, after all, a child of the sixties who supported Dr. King and protested the Vietnam War and marched on Washington) and I realized that the struggle became vibrant once again the day Obama declared his candidacy. It’s been a true grassroots revolution, and last night people around the world took to the streets…in celebration. Tears flowed, but no blood.

I was struck not only by the grace and honesty of Obama’s acceptance speech (transcript), which I expected, but also by the  decency and generosity of McCain’s concession speech (transcript). He said what his supporters needed to hear, despite their unwillingness to hear it.

Now the really hard work begins. Can we do it? Yes, we can.

Barack Obama accepts:

John McCain concedes:

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