Caroline Kennedy endorses Barack Obama

I felt the past and present collide today, in a miraculous way.

Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John Kennedy, endorses Sen. Barack Obama in tomorrow's New York Times, online now. She says, with typical Kennedy eloquence:

... Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960. ...

Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning. ...

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.

Read the whole thing.

I just saw Obama's acceptance speech after his big South Carolina win. I cried. I so want to live in the America he describes. I refuse to believe it's unachievable. As much as I know, as much as I've learned, I know that, despite our apparent differences, deep down, most of us want the same things: affordable healthcare, clean air, fairness and decency for ourselves and others.

For someone who had almost forgotten how to hope, it's hard. I've been burned before. We all have. As a line in Disney's Little Mermaid production on Broadway says, "happiness is not wanting impossible things." But I want a seemingly impossible thing. I want a united, not a divided, America. I want conservatives and liberals to stop demonizing each other. I want a president who wants to lead all of us into a better future.

Thank you, Caroline Kennedy. I agree. No one has espoused the sense your father, and his brother, has, in my lifetime either. Until now. I hope, again. And I'm working to turn that hope into a reality. I am a precinct captain for Obama. I worked four weeks in that last three at my regular job, but in my very precious spare time, I've been making calls on his behalf.

I wish all of you some hope, in these dark times. I hope all of us find a way to build a better America together.