It’s not about winning or losing, but how you play the game. Last night’s victory in South Carolina testified to the power of people coming together and donating their time and energy to making a difference in the world. We’ve got a lot to reflect upon and to write about in the coming days, but I do believe that — Presidential campaigns aside — the organizers who talked to thousands of residents of this state have changed the rules of politics in South Carolina.

I had the honor of being at the staff party after the victory rally last night, where Senator Obama made a quick visit. He reminded us of the long and difficult road ahead, but in preparing us to take that journey, he quoted Bobby Kennedy: We are sending out ripples of hope.

But ripples a revolution does not make. Each of these campaigns represents only the first steps to a new America.

Photos from Bluff Precinct (Columbia), Richland County

In 1787, the U.S. Constitution enshrined the Three-Fifths Clause, reminding us of a time when Black slaves counted as three-fifths of a person when it came to assigning representatives in Congress but were denied the vote themselves.

Today in 2008, that legacy ends.

When the Democratic Party moved up the South Carolina primary, it was to amplify voices who have rarely been heard on the national stage and to magnify their impact on selecting the next President of the United States. It wasn’t just a wise move: it was the right thing to do.

Already there are those who are hinting that today’s election doesn’t really count: that because the Democratic vote in South Carolina has a substantial African-American population, today’s results should not represent the country. And of course they should not: there was Iowa, and New Hampshire, and Nevada, each standing for a different slice of our United States.

But we must never go back to the era of Three-Fifths, when some voices count for more than others. Today’s results, whatever they are, count. Because today’s vote is not about Black, or White, or any other way of dividing up our country. Today’s vote is about all of us speaking in one voice, as one people, as one nation.

The sky is lightening, and the polls are open. Here at the Bluff staging area, the local field director, six college students, and we are getting ready to turn out the vote. I’m feeling really good about the day ahead. We skipped the rally last night to get some sleep, but the students were there, and the crowd was FIRED UP.

And today, we’re ready to go.