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heart has vast reserves of experience to draw upon. Opponents accuse him peddling fluff, saying that his platform and policies lack substance. I think that they miss the point. Clear moral vision must precede specific policy. A leader provides that vision, and the energy that drives a nation towards it. A leader must also have the judgment to choose the best advisers and to tap the right experience. In that way, he can leverage the collective energy and experience of a nation.

One reason that hope defies description is that each of us sees it a bit differently. To the parents of teenagers, perhaps they see in Obama the hope that their children's lives and futures won't be spent to secure a cheap supply of foreign oil. To an office worker, passing time in a six-by-six cubicle, Obama may represent the hope that they have a purpose greater than serving the corporate mission statement. To a low-income single parent, he might represent a hope for affordable health care and quality education for the children. To this old white guy, he represents the hope that I can be a better man than the one who, at one time, would have had a hard time supporting a black candidate for president. Like our nation, I've come a long way, but still hope to go much further.

I have long been a political cynic, fond of saying that any successful politician is, necessarily, self-serving and dishonest. Otherwise, they could never be successful. The theory is that the honest politician must compete and win against corrupt opponents, and that group enjoys the natural advantage of being unrestrained by integrity. It's possible, maybe even likely, that I'll be disappointed yet again.

I hope not.

Learn more about this author, Jim Mcinvale.
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