Super Tuesday!

It's been a long, strange trip, but Barack Obama has now received enough votes to make him the presumptive Democratic nominee for President. When I watched him make his announcement speech from Springfield, Illinois, more than a year ago, there was no way in hell I thought he'd be the nominee. Did I hope he would be? Yeah, but just like I wished that Teddy Kennedy was the nominee in 1980, or that Jesse Jackson was in 1988. It was the "pie in the sky" dream nominee that never, ever seems to come true. But, seemingly, it appears that tonight he's the guy.

As we watch the news tonight, they just played Grandpa McCain's speech. It was the most ineffective, lackluster, waste of airtime that I believe I've seen in a long, long time. He clearly looks like he's trying to improve his speech-making, but he talks in a sing-song, patronizing, unemotional voice. And reading the teleprompter is not one of his strong suits. At one point, he talked about providing hot water on babies. Huh? I think he meant clean water, but what the hell?

Luckily, the night gets better. Even Hillary's speech has to be an improvement. And by the time Barack bedazzles us at 10 pm with his own oratory, we'll see actual, real live, effective communication. I expect a barn burner.

Along with oratorical gifts Barack brings, he also brings a generational, millennial shift. If he brings half the change that his very presence delivers, I'll be one happy constituent. Do I think he really is Superman? Hardly. But he represents the next step for this country and I firmly believe that Mrs. Clinton represents the past (along with a very distasteful sense of entitlement).

So, tonight we get to soak up the success and get ready to embrace the future. Guess what? A black man could be president. That's just friggin' awesome.