Transformative Obama

By Chris Trout | November 2, 2008

OK. So the US presidential election is just a day away and it's time to be straight. (That's what the blog if for, right?)

I think this is the most important and, quite frankly, the most potentially transformative election in my 52 years on this earth. Here is a candidate for president whose values, character and beliefs are aligned with my own. He speaks and acts from a strong strengths perspective. He genuinely values others and knows how to convey that respect, even when he disagrees. He believes that it is possible to live, both personally and as a country, with integrity and respect for others. He looks for what is right and seeks to grow it. He inspires hope. Barack Obama has all the qualities of a transformative person in the right place at the right time.

If elected, young people across this country, especially those of color, not to mention those with funny names or bodies or mismatched personalities, will be filled with hope, with a new belief that they can. Disenfranchised people sense that they just might be heard, that they just might have power. That they can. They look and see that he did it his way, with quiet confidence and constancy.

If elected, people all over the world will marvel at our ability to self-right, to change our minds, to learn, to grow. As a citizen of this country and of the world, I am excited in a way that I have never before experienced, and you can feel that electricity in the air.

Whatever happens on Tuesday, we will move forward and continue to grow and evolve and transform our lives. But it sure would be fun to do it with leadership and inspiration and an almost unbearable sense of hope and promise.