With not be much room for debate,  I believe the 2008 election will go down as one of the most extraordinary Presidential elections and wins of my lifetime.   I believe I can say that simply straightforward because of the quick rise of President-elect Barack Obama to the political scene.   Little was known about the man we have elected as our 44th President prior to the election.  Now many are still learning, watching and garnering hope for him.   I have been watching a good number of the pre-Inauguration events and commentaries, and what I see and feel at every turn is the emotion of everyone in the crowd and of those being interviewed.  Real people embracing and celebrating the Inauguration festivities makes me yearn to be back in Washington to watch it all unfold.  I want to be one of those millions of emotional faces in the crowd.  

On my road to learn more about our new President and his family, the one single trait that keeps surfacing over and over is realism. Realism is a trait I find important to possess, as well as, important to success.   The sense of realism seems to be refreshing to politicos and to those who have been studying politics over the years.  It can be transformative.  Maya Angelou wrote about realism when she wrote about Michelle Obama in today's Washington Post: At Long Last, Ready for the Real Deal.    I believe the article is poignant and gets to the heart of the matter of what a number of Americans are feeling in these last hours before the Inauguration.  It's called 0ptimism.

If you take time to read this article, I hope you will with a real and open mind as well as from an optimistic point of view.