I write this with dried tear tracks on my face.

For the first time since I was eligible to vote, I actually feel hope. Hope for our country, hope for our international reputation, and -- dare I say it -- hope for myself and my family as I stare at the stack of bankruptcy papers on my desk.

I'm proud that Barack Obama will be the face of America in 2009 and beyond. For the first time in my life, we will have a President who "gets it." "W" certainly never got it. Clinton came close. H.W. Bush never had a clue, but he was closer than his son. Reagan had the potential to get it, and did in some respects. Carter was never given the chance by Congress to get it, and Ford was too busy doing damage control. Nixon? Nevermind. Johnson? I'm not sure he got it, but he knew how to play the game. Kennedy? From what I understand, he got it. But I wasn't born yet.

Obama gets it, and I will be proud to call him my President.