I got sad watching Barack Obama’s speech Tuesday last night. And yes, it was something he said. First Obama stood, basking in the unabashed passion the crowd was sending his way. And then he reminded them:

“Change doesn’t come from the top down, it comes from the bottom up.”

The people roared. And I felt sad because I realized how few of them really heard what he said and understood what it means for our future as Americans. Beyond all of the all of the hullabaloo surrounding the campaigns to put Obama or Hillary or McCain at the top, is the necessity for us, we the people, to change OUR ways. If we want change as much as we say, the question is what are we as individuals as neighbors as families as strangers prepared to do differently to have that better America?

In most cases, including my own, not a helluva whole lot.

I think in terms of “fighting” for my vote to be counted in the Super Tuesday primary. I wrote emails, I made calls, I donated to the Courage Campaign to support their legal initiative. But did I go downtown, get a protest permit, and carrying a sign that read “COUNT MY VOTE!” go walking back and forth in front of the Los Angeles County Registrar’s office? No. I thought about it. I fantasized about the press it would generate. I envisioned becoming a YouTube phenom and inspiring folks all across the country to take matters into their own hands.

But I did not take direct action. I moved on with my life and my obligations.

I think about the 2000 election. And although I am thankful that neighbors didn’t start hacking away each others’ limbs when they disagreed over how the election was decided, mostly there was a lot of limp, rational blah blah blah without even an insinuation of repercussion for “stealing an election.”

Even as Florida prepared to prematurely certify its election results, all of us who were alarmed stayed home and watched it all go down on cable. We didn’t hop on planes, trains and buses to get to Florida to scream our displeasure in unison. Can you imagine how the last eight years might have been different if 100,000 of us had shown up in Florida? Just imagine…

You have to respect the Conservative movement’s commitment to action. Whoooweee there were a lot of calls made when the McCain-Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill came up. Sparked by airwave filibusters by hosts like Sean Hannity and Al Rantel, listeners one after the other called in to report what calls they had made, who they had spoken to, and any responses received. When the host would suggest another place or person to call, the callers would flood that office. No matter what you thought of the issue, it was an awesome display of the power we have as an electorate — if we use it.

And then there was the election of 2004. It is widely believed that Karl Rove had the inspired and sinister idea to encourage as many states as possible to put the question of gay marriage on their ballots to drive evangelical turnout. Conservatives opposing gay marriage turned out in droves. And don’t even start with me about Republicans and voter disenfranchisement. They are not the only ones. I know what happened to my vote in this latest primary. I know what happened to many New York votes in this primary. I don’t know what happened to many New Hampshire votes in this primary. And more than a decade ago, a well-known black “leader” sat down with me over dinner in New York’s Chinatown and explained how “walking around money” was distributed routinely by BOTH the Democratic and Republican parties. He laid out how that cash is funneled through black churches and community organizations in an effort to buy, sell and manipulate black votes. This was explained to me while I was a producer for ABC News working on the Ed Rollins scandal. This person just laughed at my inquiries about what Rollins said he was doing. My source told me, on background, “This happens all the time. It’s the way you do it. Rollins just shot his mouth off, that’s all.”

So if Obama or Clinton wins, what are you prepared to do to change this country from the bottom up? And perhaps more importantly, what are you prepared to do if they don’t?