A Historic Moment

Not to gloat or anything, but in this space on Feb. 14—almost four months ago—we entitled our column "Obama's Emerging Democratic Victory." We wrote that "his candidacy is a phenomenon unstoppable by Hillary Clinton or any other Democrat" and that "here is a human and political force unlike anything the United States has seen in decades."

In the months since that rash prediction, the senator from Illinois has not always continued the dramatic upward surge that he showed that February week in Washington, Nebraska, Louisiana, and Virginia. There have been bumps in the road. But the break-through appeal that Obama demonstrated then—and the organizing flair, the sheer competence of his campaign—have now made him the presumptive Democratic nominee.

For months now, it has been apparent that the Democratic nomination contest would produce either the first black man or the first woman to be nominated for president by a major American party. Now we know which it will be—a graceful, fiercely intelligent young man with an original voice and generous spirit, whose ethnic background and extraordinary personal history present a living personification of the genius and promise of American multi-culturalism.

This is an historic moment in America, which can be gratefully acknowledged even by those who supported Hillary Clinton or who support John McCain in the November election.

Clinton herself pointed to the achievement in a gracious and eloquent speech Saturday in Washington, D.C., ending her candidacy, echoing Obama’s campaign themes while tying his historic campaign with her own.

"Together, Sen. Obama and I achieved milestones essential to our progress as a nation, part of our perpetual duty to form a more perfect union," she said. Clinton also paid tribute to the political skills and personal attributes that led him to victory in one of the hardest-fought nomination battles in American history.

"I've had a front-row seat to his candidacy," she declared, "and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit."

Obama was equally generous in victory as he paid tribute to his Democratic rival. "I honor her today for the valiant and historic campaign she has run," he said. "She shattered barriers on behalf of my daughters and women everywhere, who now know that there are no limits to their dreams."

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Barack Obama now begins his campaign for the presidency of the United States. His principal opponent, Sen. John McCain, is an honorable and decent man. But he is a man with far too many ties to the president and the national Republican Party, whose policies, both at home and at war abroad, have been a disaster for the United States and its people. The historic moment of Barack Obama's nomination is just that—a moment, a piece of unfinished history. It can be consummated in November, if the American people make the right choice. That is their chance to change decisively the direction of American history.