Mi mi mi mi mi!

When I stuck my Obama 08 sticker on my car 22 months ago, I stuck it because Obama was fresh and young and new, and because he spoke of an America I wanted to believe in.

But between then and now he's impressed me in a variety of ways I didn't even consider in the beginning. Unlike both of his competitors, he didn't bankrupt his campaign, which shows he knows how to manage (my) money. Unlike both of his competitors, he didn't need staff shake-ups, which shows he knows how to hire people who can get the job done. He's proven to have an unflappable temperament and a willingness to be bold when the situation calls for it. He's done what he said he was going to do in terms of expanding the Democratic electoral map and winning over Republicans.

And his message of a united America has never changed. Barack himself never changed. I kept waiting for what I thought was the inevitable cringey moment -- like John Kerry pheasant-hunting to show he was a regular guy -- but Obama never jumped through any hoops. He was what he was.

I know he's not going to be some kind of American messiah. I know he's not going to transform the world. It'll be enough if he's able to keep things from getting any worse. But I'm 27 and so far in my experience a president is someone either to be embarrassed by or ashamed of. That we might have one to be admired is thrilling.

Thrilling too is the idea that America is on the verge of proving that a man who forty-five years ago would've been blasted with a fire hose just for wanting a decent seat at the movies, can now be elected to our highest office. That gives me hope. That means that somewhere in Des Moines or San Antonio a gay kid will look at the paper Wednesday and see Black man elected president and she'll believe in a new option for herself. That is progress.

So. Two years this race has been going on, and finally the fat lady is warming up. She's getting ready to sing. And if you look close, you'll spy a little sticker on that viking hat of hers. We'll find out for sure tomorrow what the sticker says, but I think the sticker says HOPE.