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I’ve been really disappointed with the Democratic party as of late.

Tonight, that all changed.

Democrats caucused in record numbers. The previous record was absolutely shattered.

Kucinich and Biden threw their support behind Obama where they knew they would not be viable. There was some talk of Richardson doing the same.

Democrats voted for change in Washington by supporting Obama in a pretty convincing way. He’s almost 10% ahead of Clinton and Edwards.

I have been a fan of Barack Obama since his moving speech at the Democratic Convention in 2004. I have been leaning towards Kucinich for this election, with Obama running a close second for me. Of course I am disappointed that Kucinich couldn’t even pull out the 10% Paul got for the Republicans, but I’m not surprised. The media has not been kind to the man, and he didn’t help his cause with the UFO non-issue. I still plan to cast my vote for Kucinich in the DC primary if he is on the ballot, but I will have very few qualms checking the box marked Obama, if he isn’t.

At any rate, I am VERY encouraged by tonights results in Iowa, and the progress I see in the party and with the voters.

Here is a gem from Obama’s speech after the results came in. A perfect example of why I’ve always liked the man and why he certainly deserves to be President.

I know you didn’t do this for me. You did this—you did this because you believed so deeply in the most American of ideas – that in the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.

I know this—I know this because while I may be standing here tonight, I’ll never forget that my journey began on the streets of Chicago doing what so many of you have done for this campaign and all the campaigns here in Iowa – organizing, and working, and fighting to make people’s lives just a little bit better.

This was exampled in Kucinich’s statement as well, where he asked that his supporters support Obama in precincts where Kucinich would not be a viable candidate (which turned out to apparently be all of them). These men want to be President because they have the courage to bring about change, not because of some all-consuming personal ambition that would have them sell themselves to the highest bidder.

Obama went on to talk about hope, something he’s been looked down on as “naive” for having…

Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.

Barack Obama’s campaign might just make me proud to call myself a Democrat again. This thing is far from over, but if tonight is any indication… History is in the making, folks. The darkness is still looming, but there is a beacon of hope on the horizon. Maybe not in my lifetime. Maybe not in my children’s lifetime… But progressive thinkers are going to win this country over, and we’re going to have prosperity and freedoms and national pride again.