Shopping on Main Street in Brattleboro, Vermont today a store called Dragonfly is selling large rhinestone pins each one spells out a word in all capitol letters – ‘Dream’, ‘Hope’, ‘Imagine’.

Down the street, the window of Beadniks (a store that feels right in this Berkeley of the East) commands us to do something we have been very reluctant – I would say scared – to do for the last 8 years: to believe. I’m predicting that, at this moment, Brattleboro is on the crest of a new wave – one of optimism: A message that will be decorate the windows and stores of shopping streets of small town and big city America this holiday season.

We can now look forward to the possibility of a positive future, because we have a leader we believe can take us there; a man whose lead we can follow with confidence.

I say to the woman selling the rhinestone pins, “If they make a pin that says ‘Obama’, they will fly right off the shelves.” She agrees and we smile broadly. I say “I hope you do well this season.” She wishes me a very happy holiday. As I do you.

Note: check out Macy’s Believe Meter (Imagine, Wish, Dream, Believe) online. Its all about whether you believe in the spirit of Christmas (e.g. consumerism?). Well, do you?