The Fierce Urgency of Now

This country is flocking to the Obama message of hope. As I write, Michelle Obama has taken the stage to speak to a massive crowd at the University of California in Los Angeles. This is a powerful woman, who speaks with eloquence and passion, straight from the heart in a way that I haven't seen from the spouse of a presidential candidate in many a long day. In her own words, only in America could Michelle Obama, a woman who until a few short months ago was unknown the length and breadth of the country, be introduced as the keynote speaker by a trio of inspirational household names like Caroline Kennedy, Oprah Winfrey and Stevie Wonder.

This country is flocking to the Obama message of hope. This past week, one of the greatest politicians to ever grace the United States senate, Ted Kennedy, symbolically passed the torch from the generation of that of his slain brothers to a man who in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, understands the fierce urgency of now. Kennedy, a champion of the underdog and a lightning rod for minorities, the underprivileged, the poor and the mentally and physically disabled over the course of a 45 year career, sees the energy, wisdom and leadership skills in Obama that a similar fresh faced senator brought to the presidential discussion in 1960. Displaying the energy of a man half his age, Kennedy is burning up the stump across the Midwest and California, connecting with those voters who may be well prove crucial in the upcoming primaries; Latinos. The Kennedy name is beloved within the Latino community, ever since Bobby Kennedy broke bread and showed solidarity with Cesar Chavez during the great strike by the Farm Workers Union in 1968.

The country is flocking to the Obama message of hope. Independents and moderate Republicans are attracted by the olive branch that he has extended by asking them to concentrate not on the few things that they disagree on but rather on the many things that unite them - the ability to "disagree without being disagreeable". While it is hard to guage the impact that endorsements have on a particular candidacy, the diversity of public endorsements that Obama has received in the past month is proving that here is a man that IS NOW forming a coalition of people that are coming together across the politicial, racial and gender divide to unite in a common cause.

With 48 hours to go before people begin going to the polls in 22 states across the country, it is hard to call a clear winner between Senator's Clinton and Obama. There is no doubt that there has been a tremendous surge for Obama in the past couple of weeks and the wind is at his back. It is going to be fascinating to see if this forward momentum can edge him ahead of Mrs. Clinton after all Super Tuesday votes have been counted.