Senator Clinton and the Path to Tomorrow

The convention tonight was awesome.

I wish I could convey exactly how it feels to be on the floor out here - I've seen some of the coverage, and there is just no way to convey what it's like when thousands and thousands of people from all over this country are cheering and screaming and dancing together for hours on end.

All of the speakers tonight were excellent. Governor Warner spoke so intelligently about how practical a new energy policy can and will be for our nation. Governor Schweitzer was both engaging and hilarious - that man knows how to work a crowd! By the way, I have it on good authority that he has a border collie who comes with him everywhere - work, planes, meetings, and everything in between. I haven't confirmed it, but the same source told me that, at times, his dog's approval rating is even higher than his. What a great speaker and an unexpected treat.

But Senator Clinton . . . Senator Clinton. Just wow.

I haven't had much time to watch the news coverage of this convention, but what I have seen has been pretty disappointing. There's so much focus on some perceived split in the delegation - a split that, as I mentioned in my last post, I haven't seen any credible evidence for - and so little on the true stories of the people who are here, the reasons they have come, and their vision for this country.

So I have to say, when Senator Clinton walked on to that stage - when I saw the first viable female candidate for the Presidency in front of me - I was overwhelmed by what it meant to have her standing there. I wasn't alone. The whole floor went crazy. Obama delegates, Clinton delegates, everyone cheered and screamed and whistled and got so carried away that we almost wouldn't let her speak. The love was tangible, it was real, and it was justified. And I can only hope that she felt that too - felt how important she is not just to her delegates, and not just to this party, and not just to women, but to everyone who has ever fought with everything in them to make their dream a reality.

That was what I got from her speech. To say that Hillary's dream was to be the President really misses the bigger picture. Her dream is for a better future. And she ran for President to make sure that change would happen. After hearing her speak, after seeing the genuine feeling she gave to her words, I have no doubt about this: that Hillary Clinton puts her country's future before herself. And she, like Obama, expects the same of those who follow her.

And let there be no mistake that the next time a woman, whoever she may be, decides to run for President, she will be indebted to Senator Clinton for blazing a path that no one else has blazed before. But that is the lesson of any movement in our history. We owe so much to those who struggled and pushed and fought to put in to action the ideals that they believed to be in our hearts. Senator Clinton is a trailblazer. The struggle of anyone who dares to take on a challenge of that scope is to keep going even when your trail takes a bad turn. You keep going, not for yourself, but because you are fighting for something bigger than yourself. No matter what, you keep going.

Keep going. Don't give up on your dreams of a better tomorrow. Don't forget the reason you left the beaten path in the first place. Don't lose touch with the ideals that gave you the courage to work for change. Acknowledge your mistakes, think about where you fell, but above all else, keep going.

Tonight, we will place an African-American and a woman in to nomination for the Presidency for the first time in our history. Either of these things alone would be enough to make headlines. Together, they are a testament to the power of our people to move forward in to a future that reflects the true complexity and diversity of our nation.

Let that be the story. This is not a battle of him vs. her. This is not a battle for power or prestige. This is a moment to be cherished and remembered for the rest of our lives as the moment when we broke free from the patterns of yesterday and offered a new vision for tomorrow. This is our time - ALL of us, together, unique and different and diverse, but ultimately willing to put our differences aside on behalf of our common good.

We are so lucky to be alive to witness such times. And I am so grateful to be here in it.