And this election cycle is an example.

Truly, when Bush and the Supreme Court took the election away from Gore in 2000, it felt as if the world was upside down. Then, when Bush was reelected in 2004, I know I was not the only person who felt physically ill for days after the election. Karl Rove and his pact with the devil had taken over for good. America had been totally hijacked by Bush, the neocons, the Swiftboaters, and was mesmerized into believing the pervasive lies -- Saddam and AlQaeda, WMDs, up is down, the Constitution is just "talking points," evolution is just a theory, gays are evil, black is white...

There were books and films that explained it all -- like What's the Matter With Kansas, and Bushwhacked, and Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, and it seemed clear that America was permanently hijacked, down the rabbit hole, and doomed.

And it was clear that when poor people will vote for the candidate most likely to make them poorer, that politics HAD truly gone insane, and America might never come back from its collective mental illness.

And around a year ago, it was iffy to think that we'd elect a Democratic president in 2009. Hillary said she was in, but we all knew what sort of baggage a Clinton -- any Clinton -- was bringing to the process. And we also knew about her fatal flaw -- her political Waterloo -- she voted to allow Bush to start the war.

But we also knew that no other candidates were likely to come out of the woodwork to give her a real challenge. Sure, there would be the Joe Bidens and Bill Richardsons, but seriously, we knew Hillary could easily steamroll over those guys.

But it felt lost to many of us even then. Because Democrats seemed able to lose the presidency to any chucklehead the Republicans could come up -- and given that Bush won after all the disasters he wrought, we knew they could mine the dregs of candidates and probably still field someone who would win over any Democrat, and ESPECIALLY Hillary Clinton.

And then Barack Obama announced his candidacy.

People thought it was a pipe dream, it was too early, he was too young, too black, not black enough (thanks, Debra Dickerson of Salon for that one), he'd laid out his youthful indiscretions in his autobiography, blah blah blah.

But the man who went from obscure state legislator to "Barack the Rock Star" with his Democratic Convention speech has "it." He can match Hillary Clinton in terms of legislative experience and intellect. He proved that he could raise as much -- if not more -- money than she could. He also showed that, despite her claims of decades of experience, he had far better judgment than she did about the defining issue of our times, the war in Iraq, and he laid it out clearly in a speech, while she cravenly voted to allow Bush war powers.

But, most importantly, in terms of that intangible "it" that no money can buy, no experience can convey, and no proximity can deliver -- he has charisma, an ability to inspire, and ability to excite voters, and renew a flagging American spirit -- an ability that she can never possess in her wildest dreams.

We are watching what may be, for many of us, a once-in-a-lifetime politician come to the forefront.

It's sad for Hillary -- she's certainly competent, and if you fielded her against a primary slate of, for example, Biden, Richardson, and Kerry, she'd be the nominee easily. And if she was the nominee running against McCain, she might not win, but she'd at least have had her shot -- and I know how very much she wants it, and how much it means to her, and rightfully so. She has worked hard.

But life isn't fair, and politics certainly isn't fair.

She's in the wrong place at the wrong time, as much as Barack Obama is in the right place at the right time.

And, yes, there are going to be twists and turns and machinations as the primary season moves forward, but Barack is going to be the nominee. And he is going to win against McCain, and finally, at least politically, the new millennium will truly begin.

Sometimes politics works.