When I first heard the Obama slogan – “Change we can believe in” – I thought – Doesn’t that just hit the nail on the head! I want to yell out “I believe” every time I hear it.
Back in 2004, when I had the incredible pleasure of meeting Barack Obama several times at the convention in Boston and heard him speak a few times, I dared to hope that he might be our 2008 nominee.
(four years later, after the jump)
Considering he had yet to be elected to the U.S. Senate at the time, it was a wild wish. But when someone touches your soul the way Obama does, you dare to dream, you dare to hope.
Today is my third day in Denver, and I truly feel as though this Vermont delegation is participating in something so much larger than ourselves. I am sure the Obama campaign will go down in history as the time we started to take our country back. I have talked with labor leaders, environmentalists, teachers, health care workers and people of many more backgrounds. The sense of hope is everywhere.
People are talking in terms of “when” not “if.” Optimism is creeping back into our lives. People are finally able to sense the end of this nightmare called the Bush administration. I can’t wait to hear Obama accept the nomination on Thursday. I can’t wait to see him sworn in on Jan. 20, 2009.
During this exciting time, I will continue to restrain the urge to stand up and yell out “I believe”, but if I did here in Denver, everyone around me would probably just join in.
[GMD NOTE: Mary Sullivan, one of Vermont’s alternate Obama delegates to the Democratic Convention, is a former member of the Vermont House of Representatives. In the State House, she served as Chairperson of the Natural Resources Committee. In addition to chairing Natural Resources during the Dean years, she was a delegate to the Democratic Convention in 2004 pledged to Governor Dean. This is her first post on GMD and we hope she will send us more! — promoted by Caoimhin]
