One Week

I awoke this morning with very strong feelings. One week.

It weighed on me. Today's Tuesday. Next Tuesday Barack Obama will be President.

As I got out of bed and got ready for work, I thought back so something Michelle Obama said a matter-of-factly times during the campaign season -- her word still rang true to me:

"Barack Obama will be the underdog until he is sitting in the White House."

One week, and Barack Obama -- and everything he stands for -- is still the underdog.

Getting this far was the unlikely story of my lifetime. Seeing Barack Obama speak at the 2004 convention, and then knowing he should be the next President, only to then become a part of that unlikely story and successfully change politics -- it's almost too much for a 25 year old to reconcile.

Were we, as underdog believers in a Different Democracy -- a Country throwing itself at the Future, rather than hiding and fighting under the cloak of its past -- really successful in our efforts to Change the world and elect Barack Obama? Will he, sometime in the early afternoon of January 20th, 2009, really sit in the White House?

Will our ideals go from underdog to topdog?

Not yet.

The fight for affordable healthcare, equitable taxation, Smart Power, green power, vibrant educational and competitive technological systems has just begun.

We were underdogs for this chance. But now we have our chance.

So, this week, let us celebrate -- one last time -- this accomplishment. Let us dance and sign one last time. The fight was hard and the victory was sweet. We won the Chance to Change.

But next week -- one week from today -- let's get to work.