Country First.

I watched the returns last night with a group of friends from church, including the folks I went to Nevada with (see the Driving For Change post below). When Colbert & Stewart called the race for Obama, we were stunned. We looked at each other in disbelief. Was it true? How could it be true? We've been down this road before, you know.

Someone shouted "Turn on Fox"! So we did, and then we believed.

And then we cheered.

And as we toasted our new President with champagne and congratulated ourselves on our contribution to this historic moment, we were still a little bit stunned. Hours later, as we watched to see the results of our local races, we kept turning to each other and saying "I can't believe Obama is really President".

We all gave kudos to John McCain. He gave an eloquent speech and looked like the old McCain, the maverick, the one we had respect for and liked well enough to say "he wouldn't be so bad as President". The crazy, pandering, negative McCain had gone. He lived up to his campaign slogan and put his country first, offering his full support to the new President. Having met McCain, I know he meant it.

So should we all. And now, that's really what we have to do. In the words of our President-elect, "I have heard your voices and I will be your President too".

So I encourage all Obama supporters to reach out to the McCain supporters in your lives. Show respect for their passion in this marvelous process. Unity is where it's at!