The View from the Mountaintop as Barack Obama Effectively Secures the Democratic Nomination

In his famous speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop," Martin Luther King spoke about peering down from the mountaintop into the promised land of racial equality and acceptance. It would appear that as the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Presidency of the United States, Barack Obama is having a mountaintop experience.

Even Jesse Jackson, appearing on Nightline, said that that "this is promised land territory." In fact, the Democratic Convention where Obama will officially be declared the Democratic nominee is to be held on August 28, 2008. That is 45 years, to the day, after Martin Luther King delivered his world famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

This is a momentous day in history. But one is remiss if one fails to acknowledge that the road that brought Obama to the nomination is paved with the blood, sweat and tears of the many African Americans that went before him, fighting the good fight and keeping the faith. Certainly he owes a debt of gratitude to the many who had their feet and hands slammed in the doors of history while holding them open for subsequent generations,

On a personal note, I am overjoyed that an African-American man has secured the democratic nomination for President. This has been a hard fought battle to secure the nomination and Hilary Clinton a worthy opponent. In many ways Hilary has offered Obama the trial by fire experience, he is going to need to go toe to toe with the Republicans.

The real work starts now. It's back to the drawing board to craft new strategies for a new and far wilier opponent. As Hilary Clinton has declined to make her concession speech tonight, one is certain that she understands that she wields an immense amount of power to help Obama in his bid toward the White House come November. While political pundits seem to feel that she is playing her cards close to the vest and angling for the nod as VP. That's anyone's guess.

Whatever her motivation, the 18 million votes that she secured during the nomination process, along with her ability to offer Obama some transitional democrats that might swing republican without the right kind of finesse, can not be discounted. He is going to need her support, she has been in the trenches and despite not really being pinned down by sniper fire, she has been in her share of political scrapes. That type of experience may prove priceless as things progress toward November.

However, from a realistic standpoint one waits to see a President in office to fully ascertain whether they will be successful. One must be realistic in any assessment of a president's power to enact quick change as it depends on securing bi-partisan support. It has been my experience that it normally takes two terms to see the fruits of their labors.

For example, it took Bill Clinton approximately two terms to achieve prosperity and it took George Bush two terms to throw it all away. So if President Obama does not get it all done in one term then remember it may take two to see the results.