Witness

Mark Cuban (American billionaire entrepreneur & owner of the Dallas Mavericks) wrote this inspiring post on his blog, Blog Maverick, on November 5, 2008:

I voted for President Elect Obama.

The rest of my votes went almost exclusively to Republicans , Libertarians and Independents. In looking at the Democratic platform, there are a few things I agree with, but on the economic side... there isn’t a lot of his economic policy that I do agree with him on. So why did I vote for him ?

Its simple. Having an elected black President will do more to energize this country than any economic or social policy ever could. In a single day of voting, our amazing country once again reinvigorated the dream that any child in this country, no matter what circumstances they are born into, can grow up to be anything they want, including President of the United States.

That dream, staying viable, being reinvigorated, will do more for this country than any economic policy or any legislation that could ever be passed

...The election of Barack Obama is a shot of adrenaline for those who felt they could never participate in the American Dream.

How do you stimulate and turn around the economy in this day and age ? Motivate those who in the past couldn’t , wouldn’t or didn’t, into those who can and do. Motivate those who can and do, to continue to innovate and increase productivity.

As any successful CEO will tell you, leadership, vision and motivation has far more impact on results than any tax cut or increase. While I prefer lower taxes, I can tell you that no entrepreneur or CEO worth a damn in this country gives up or works less because of a change in tax policy. In this country you work harder to achieve your dreams and goals.

...I’m incredibly proud and excited to be part of this moment in our history. I believe that the election of President Obama will energize many, many more of our fellow citizens to work harder to achieve our goals.
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Overlooking the fact that he's diminishing Obama to a token black figurehead, and the fact I believe Obama's policies may change this country a great deal and for the better, I hope he's right. I hope the campaign we witnessed last year is only the beginning of a synergy yet unseen in American history. Could be awesome.
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Speaking of biking, I made a terrible decision today: to bike to work without regard to the temperature outside. I'm looking at the current temps, and currently we are experiencing 9 degrees above zero that "feels like" 2-below. This means that an hour and a half ago, it was much colder. I've never been so unhappy to be on my bike. I missed the morning forecast as the Today show was hell-bent on catching a glimpse of the Obama family entering a limo... in fact, I didn't even get to see that. Oh well, I have 6 more hours to decide if I want to bike home in steamy 14 degrees, or ask my boss for a ride. Oh yeah, and a semi-truck ran me off the road. Fortunately, my tires cut right through the snow piled alongside the curb and I was able to quickly turn into a parking lot.