I'm not a knowledgeable person regarding Gary Hart. I guess in the '80s he ran for President and lost. There was a scandal too. But this past week he wrote a terrific Op-Ed piece for the NY Times called America's Next Chapter. The theme of the writing is how the next President, especially Barack Obama, can shape America for the next 30 years or so. I believe he is right. Certain Presidents create an era. President Ronald Reagan did that almost 30 years ago. And before him it was President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

My favorite line from Hart: Ralph Waldo Emerson noted the political oscillations between the party of memory and the party of hope, the party of conservatism and the party of innovation.

So is it the leader who is doing the shaping or is America changing and a capable leader accentuates it?