Along with millions of people, I watched Barack Obama give his nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention in Denver. Talk about spectacles. Perfectly produced down to fireworks over Mile High Stadium, red, white and blue confetti and a Brookes and Dunn song, only great oration could triumph over such unnecessary pageantry.

Not only did Barack Obama triumph, he did so in such a way John Mc Cain was forced into a Hail Mary pass with the his VP pick, Alaska’s gun-toting Gov. Sarah Palin.

It’s clear change is stirring, as the candidacy of Barack Obama is proof American voters are actively seeking new voices and new choices in a rapidly changing world.

Listening to Barack, I followed along with a transcript of his speech. It was a great speech, he hit all his talking points. Calm, composed and just clever enough, Barack spoke of hope, help and the need to shift priorities away from the us against them mentality of George W. Bush.

As I watched the Democratic nominee give his acceptance speech, the historic implications did not escape me. With every utterance, Sen. Obama was saying the White House is no longer lily white. With every word spoken by the native born Hawaiian of mixed-race parentage I could imagine a Mexican- or Asian-American candidate standing there.

Seems hope is contagious.

Change is nonpartisan. A Barack Obama presidency bodes well for a Piyush Jindal presidency. The Republican governor of Louisiana, Piyush “Bobby” Jindal is of Indian-American descent, and his leadership in response to Hurricane Gustav was impressive to say the least. Makes me wonder why Gov. Jindal was passed over by John McCain for vice president.

Hardly a maverick, John McCain is not the candidate of change.

Change involves new ideas and new leadership, it also requires the will to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. Sen. Obama was spot on when he said, “The greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result.”

Southern California is at a fork in the road where status quo and quality of life part company, and progress is re-evaluated in the face of population pressures and changing economic conditions. The change we need won’t come from Washington. Change happens because we the people make it happen on the local level, one coastal community at a time.

Politics have always been the art of the possible. Democracy for all its pomp and circumstance should always be about wise governance, not partisan pandering and political posturing. On the local level, change will come with a commitment to open and honest dialogue that allows for fresh perspectives and evolving priorities to be acknowledged in the spirit of the greater good.

Barack Obama is proof 2008 is a year of change. Change is good in the face of failure.

Catch the change.