I just got back from watching all of the election coverage down at the Democratic headquarters at the Radisson and I have to say:

I'm inspired.

I am so proud of our country. I am so proud of Barack Obama and his family. I am so proud of my brother, who worked so hard to help as many people as possible be a part of this process. I am so proud of all of my friends and family who made it a priority to go out and vote today.

And I am humbled by how much work we now have to do.

In the end, it was actually somewhat odd that I found myself watching his speech at a Democratic-sponsored event. To be honest, I don't think of myself as a Democrat. Or a Republican. Some might say I am being wishy-washy, that I need to pick a side and get realistic. But I think that's really where the power of Obama's campaign rests: that you can look inside and ask yourself if you are being the best you can be-- no matter who you voted for. If you stopped listening because McCain didn't win, if you stopped listening because you think it's all just words, if you didn't think that any of it applied to you because you might have a different opinion on some issues-- then you missed the point. And you missed a great opportunity to join with the rest of the country in glimpsing for a moment what we can become if we can overcome that exact state of mind.

I'm excited to have a president who will be smart, who will listen, who won't think it's beneath himself to care about more opinions than his own, who will represent our country to the rest of the world as the honorable example we should be, who will inspire and help a whole new group of people to realize that, ultimately, the potential and responsibility of our country belongs to each of us.

I don't think it will be easy. But there's nothing more amazing to me right now than having the hope to believe it's possible.