Yes We Can!

We are overjoyed here tonight. I was so happy when they called Virginia for Obama, because I never felt like my beliefs were really shared broadly there when I lived there, and I am so happy that the state has grown more accepting and progressive and voted to elect Obama! And also because (at least on the channel we were watching), it was about 2 minutes to 8, and I knew when the California results posted at 8 pm, its 55 electoral votes, combined with the updated total from Virginia, were going to result in the election of our new President. We watched in awe, smiling and crying tears of joy.

I've sat here trying to put my feelings into words, but I can't yet, so I'll just stop here. I am so happy, and proud, and hopeful, and optimistic.

And, I was very pleased to see the reference back to the "Yes We Can" theme from (then-)Senator Obama's New Hampshire primary speech. A high-water mark in my book, and a certain call to the work and yet the optimism we have going forward.

I should also say that my boss, Eli, had a great night. Oregon has had, until today, the one and only Death With Dignity law in the country, allowing terminally ill patients with less than six months to live the right to a lethal prescription that will allow them to control the time and manner of their passing. Eli drafted the law and was instrumental in its passage, and in its legal defense, all the way to the US Supreme Court. Tonight, with Eli's help, a similar law was passed in Washington state, by at 58-42 margin. Good work, and congratulations!

Much love to everyone who has supported us and listened to my pitches for President-Elect Obama, and to everyone who voted today (even if you didn't vote for my candidate).

Yes We Can heal our nation
Yes We Can repair this world
...
We will remember that there is something happening in America,
that we are not as divided as our politics suggest,
that we are one people,
that we are one nation,
And together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story,
with three words that will ring from coast to coast,
from sea to shining sea,
Yes We Can
Yes We Can
Yes We Can

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY