You get a profound sense of your own mortality when the people you grew up heralding, watching, or being inspired by are mostly dead. Just this month Bernie Mac, Isaac Hayes, and George Carlin, three profound individuals who made a significant impact on many lives with their accomplishments and efforts, all passed on.

So it is with tremendous respect and distress that I watched Senator Ted Kennedy address the Democratic Convention in Denver tonight. Respect comes from a long career of distinguished public service with a focus on championing public policy that favors working class people in America. Distress comes from watching Caroline Kennedy and Maria Shriver fight tears likely caused by their knowledge of just how seriously ill the Senator is. Distress comes from missing hair on the side of the Senator's head from recent brain surgery. Distress comes from the realization that none of us lives forever, and having that fact illustrated by the Senators condition.

All this highlights the true significance of this election, the passing of the torch from one generation to another. Our world has changed. It has changed as much from a perspective of world events as it has from a plethora of new perspectives put forth by a new generation of people with vastly different views and values.

This is an exciting time. A time for us to merge our disparate understandings into a unified fabric of common causes and solutions. Let's see if either party can effectively communicate its understanding of that need and solutions we should support.