Torch and Transition

I was feeling a little uneasy before Sen. Kennedy came on stage. He hadn't made a public appearance in some time. The brain tumor removed, and chemo in progress, the trip across the country had to be draining, and then he walked out.

This was no wake for the living. Sen Edward Kennedy was vibrant and animated. He was almost himself, and he had something to say:

My fellow Democrats, my fellow Americans, it is so wonderful to be here.

And nothing -- nothing is going to keep me away from this special gathering tonight.

I have come here tonight to stand with you to change America, to restore its future, to rise to our best ideals, and to elect Barack Obama president of the United States

And off he went, in true Kennedy fashion. He spoke of hope, and of the future. He was positive, yet persistant. He told it how it is, and how it must be:

Barack Obama will close the book on the old politics of race and gender and group against group and straight against gay.

And Barack Obama will be a commander-in-chief who understands that young Americans in uniform must never be committed to a mistake, but always for a mission worthy of their bravery.

We are told that Barack Obama believes too much in an America of high principle and bold endeavor, but when John Kennedy called of going to the moon, he didn't say it's too far to get there. We shouldn't even try.

Our people answered his call and rose to the challenge, and today an American flag still marks the surface of the moon.

This election seems almost like we are reaching for the moon. We are asking much of this country, and its citizens during this time of war, wonder . . . economic tumult and domestic turmoil. But America has always stood tall in times of need, and Sen. Kennedy provided the necessary encouragement:

this November the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans, so with Barack Obama and for you and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.

And in January, the dream becomes a reality, and this country will begin a new course, one of hope in place of the despair of the last almost 8 years.

Flash