by Dianne Lobes

Created on: November 09, 2008   Last Updated: November 10, 2008

The change Barack Obama chooses to create has already begun with his historic and well-executed campaign and his monumental election to the presidency. The nation, the entire world, celebrated wildly on November 4th after eight nightmarish years of corporate fraud, torture and violent occupations, knowing that a constitutional law expert of intelligence, discipline and maturity will soon truly be in charge. It's a whole new confident and joyful mindset, always a great foundation for transformation.

The national mindset is important. President-elect Obama has repeatedly told all of us that any changes that are accomplished come from us. Obama did not run alone, did not canvas alone and he wasn't elected alone. Obama didn't pass his landmark ethics law in the Senate by himself, nor will he create more change alone.

It's clear that we the people are energized and ready to be included in our national destiny again, especially all the amazing young voters who provided so much conviction and so many votes. We're not only relieved at Obama's election - we're excited and ready to stay involved with what we consider our government now. We have personal investment in a government that will stop hurting us and start building us up to our potential. That's not just change; that's transformation.

Along with our support, Barack Obama knows people, knows how to bring them together, plans carefully and thinks about those plans a lot, understands Congress and the Constitution, and has the majority party's grateful support. A lot of the minority party like him too, since they helped vote him in.

Obama learned about gathering people together early in his community organizing experience, which allowed him to soundly overshadow the paltry skills and directly counter the disparaging comments of Sarah Palin and her running mate. Everyone can see that Barack Obama is accessible, deeply interested in and curious about others, and very capable in forming functional and goal-oriented relationships with others. He wasn't offered dinner and meaningful family time in Chicago just because he was a skinny organizer; people came to care about him and his work because he cared about them and knew how to listen to them and their dreams. Dreams, hopes are what it's all about.

Gathering working groups that will take responsibility and welcome diverse opinions has always been a necessary precursor for change. President-elect Obama has already formed these groups in Congress and Washington, and in his

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