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Thursday night marked an anniversary and a first. On a windy night in Denver, Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president, 45 years after the dream of a preacher was declared on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This convention has inspired me. The antics and policies of the Bush administration will no longer be exercised. I see in Barack Obama a president whom I can trust and believe in. I can't cast my ballot for Barack Obama on Nov. 4, but you can. You can for every American who is unhappy with a government that caters to special-interest groups and our country's wealthiest 5 percent. You can for the troops, children, working Americans -- those who need help paying for health care bills, and those trying to figure out if there is any security left in their Social Security. You can cast your vote in honor of that preacher from Georgia and our future generations. You can cast your vote for a change we can believe in. I look forward to the day that I can explain to my children how, when I was 15, Barack Obama was elected president. KELSEY REID, ST. LOUIS PARK