Last night, an African-American man became the presumptive nominee for a major American political party, for the first time in our history. It was a mesmerizing moment, watching Obama speak in front of tens of thousands of people in the Twin Cities. It didn't really hit me, that is, the gravity of his nomination didn't hit me, until that speech. This nation has an absolutely miserable history in regards to race. Unfortunately, even if Obama is elected, this country will still ache from the wounds of racism, from past and present. However, as Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann said, it's a uniquely American situation that Barack Obama now finds himself in. Despite Hillary Clinton and John McCain's best efforts to portray him differently, Barack Obama always was, and in many ways always will be, the underdog. Just four years ago this man was an Illinois State Senator that few people outside of Chicago had ever even heard of. In that period of time he has assembled an electoral coalition of millions of new voters that has the Democratic party in great position for the general election. Very few accomplishments in American political history can match this. We live in a fascinating modern age, and we are privileged to say that we were alive when all this went down.
