One Week to Go!

In seven days America will go to the polls (at least those Americans who either won't vote or have already voted). We will be casting votes on candidates and propositions that range from the local to the national. Then it will be over and the work will begin.

It was back on February 10, 2007, nearly two years ago that Barack Obama announced what many thought was an improbable campaign for the presidency. Just two years before he had joined the Senate, and not even three years before he had electrified the Democratic National Convention as a State Senator from Illinois running for the US Senate. He was a person with little national experience, but he did have a compelling story and an ability to inspire. There were many odds to overcome -- including the formidable campaign advantages of Senator Hillary Clinton. Despite the odds, Barack Obama is on the edge of making history. It's not over until it's over. There is no room for celebration yet. You've seen clips of that guy running for a touchdown, only to have the ball stripped away at the last moment. He'd slowed down, was doing the dance, even before entering the end zone. Obama is cautioning his supporters to not celebrate just yet.

But, in seven days we will turn the page. Yes, George Bush will have a couple of months more in office, but the transition will begin -- hopefully with Barack Obama the victor.

But victory is only the beginning. Rarely does a new President enter office with such a steep hill to climb. If we are, as some say, in a similar position as FDR was in 1932, then Obama will have much work to do. We have two wars, an uncertainty about our status in Iraq, a growing Iranian power, economic woes. There is fear and there is anger. In many ways, this is not a time to be in power. The expectations will be extremely high, the honeymoon short, and yet the solutions will take time. There will not be an overnight turn around.

But what we need now is someone who will stir us all to come together and work for a better future. It's going to be difficult, but its not impossible. We've been through worse, and often times situations like this give an opportunity for the nation to take a new path.

So, here's hope for the future -- as we move into the final week of what has seemed like a never ending campaign.