Five years ago, if you'd told the couple thousand folks writing on this site the story of the last year and the role we in the netroots played in the election of 2008, well, to be frank, most of us would have been pissed as hell that we lost in 2004 and then we would have asked, "What's the netroots?"
Not today. Not tonight. And for that victory...for the sweetness of this win, for the diversity of our hopes and with full knowledge of how much effort was made by so many to get this far and how far we have yet to go...we have great reason to be thankful tonight and to celebrate the fullness of this victory tomorrow in the company of friends.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
President-elect Barack Obama
Four years ago I wrote a diary about a video by Eminem called the Politics of Mosh. Here's the video that inspired that diary:
For as much as youth DID turn out in 2004 in greater numbers, for as much as that video inspired hope and a call to action in the fall of 2004...it took 2008 to make clear, for those who had eyes to see, what it truly meant to mosh the vote.
I know that a great deal has been written and debated about what exactly this moment in our political history means.
For me, it's simple. We won.
The election cycles of 2006 and 2008 were a battle for governance. The Democratic Party, a party still in desperate need of progressive reform from stem to stern, won that battle and won an overwhelming mandate to pass legislation that will shape our new century.
For myself, I am convinced, now more than ever, that Barack Obama was the progressive choice in this election cycle. Those who missed out on volunteering for or donating to Barack Obama's campaign, missed out not simply on history, but on participating in the most diverse and effective grassroots political campaign yet seen. Those who looked with hope at Barack Obama's promise in 2004 and dared to dream of how things could be different have reason to believe that, in 2008, yes, we can is no idle phrase, but a benchmark for what we can do going forward.
This is no moment to rest on that great accomplishment. There is work for all of us to do and opportunities for all to participate. America is a work in progress. While the immediate battle for governance has been won by Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, the battle for the future of the Democratic party and, most importantly, the true substance of the change we enact for our nation remains unwritten.
Will Barack Obama and our congressional majorities usher in an era of progressive governance? That's up for us to decide. Our Constitution creates an inherent struggle between the forces of stasis and the forces of change. Anyone who worked for Barack Obama knows that change does not come easily or without hard work and setbacks. A president who wins victory with a grassroots campaign fueled by online energy and neighbor to neighbor participation cannot expect that the status quo will be acceptable or that the "beltway version of change" will satisfy the millions who answered the call of the fierce urgency of now.
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There are millions who voted for Barack Obama watching and waiting...and millions more who did not vote for President Obama who know, nevertheless, that our nation needs root and branch reform
Many of them live in states that voted against Barack Obama.
For myself, I had the privilege of working in the general election on a longshot campaign in a deep red state with a young candidate whose idealism and tenacity led him to travel the length and breadth of Nebraska in a pickup truck talking about Nebraska's Brand of Change.
I saw Scott Kleeb talk to Democrats in small towns who had given up hope. I watched as he listened to workers in DeWitt, Nebraska who'd just seen their factory close shop and head overseas. I overheard Scott get told countless times that he wouldn't get a Republican's vote, but that they were grateful that he'd showed up to ask for it. And I saw a fair number of Republicans pledge to vote for Scott because Nebraska needed a change.
I can tell you that when Barack Obama talks about the United States of America, he's included every last one of those Americans. The legislation we pass during Barack Obama's administration will affect every last one of us, no matter where we live or whom we voted for. It's been a long time coming, but a change has come.
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Our job, as "the netroots" is to keep Barack Obama honest. He knows that. We know that, too.
Out there tonight are readers who will run for office, or who will help a fellow progressive do the same. Out there tonight are folks who led a phone bank or a canvass team for Barack Obama in 2008 who have the skills to make a difference going forward.
We need them. WE NEED YOU. We need every last American committed to progressive reform of our party and our nation to be vigilant. This battle for governance was just the beginning of the challenge facing our nation. The battle to pass progressive legislation is what will make the difference in the decades to come in every last state.
Tomorrow, like so many of you, I will give thanks for this nation and for this election year and for President Barack Obama. And then I will light a candle remembering both how far we have come...and how far we have left to go.