Tom Swift Writer’s Notebook

My heartened heart says to gush. But there are so many emotions it’s too early to sort them into anything useful. My fired-up mind says to carp. But if I start in on the pundit poppycock I might never stop. Lesser lobes say to disrespect. But if the candidates (or the candidates’ supporters) are so consumed with themselves that they couldn’t find respect for the moment, any such words would serve no one but me.

Add it up and the inner editor says there’s nothing to add here, move on. But I can’t leave it alone because it’s too important, too historic, and the whole thing has moved me too much.

Fortunately, though, my words aren’t the important ones:

“America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love. The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people.

“Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals.”

-Barack Obama, June 3, 2008

This post was added on Wednesday, June 04, 2008 by Tom Swift at 11:04 and is filed under Rough Drafts.