• Tara Bozick •
• Originally published January 17, 2009 at 11:15 p.m., updated January 17, 2009 at 11:15 p.m.

Eight years ago, the country shifted from Democratic to Republican leadership.

That's when 8-year-old Paisley Humpert was born.

Now, the country will shift back to a Democratic president with the election of Barack Obama. The home-schooled third-grader couldn't be happier, as Paisley campaigned for Obama all year long alongside mom Kelly Humpert.

Paisley, a girl smart enough to keep up with political pundits, celebrated Obama's inauguration early with 30 other volunteers at the Ain't It Sweet party for the Victoria Democrats Club on Saturday.

Paisley walked into the Victoria Unitarian Universalist Church in Victoria donning an Obama 'O8 T-shirt with six buttons pinned to her shirt - three from Obama's campaign and three for his victory.

The buttons remind the girl of the different times she would draw signs supporting Obama for rallies. One time, she saw Obama speak at the Stand for Change Rally in Corpus Christi.

For that one, she wrote in huge bubble letters: "Obama or Bust." She knows the whole campaign process helped in her government studies, including learning about past presidents and the Constitution.

Paisley even went with her mom to see how to vote.

"She's been with me all along the way," mom Kelly, 42, said.

Kelly knew she wanted her daughter to know the importance of the historical events taking place before her young eyes. The mother likes how they both had the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life who came together to campaign for one inspirational candidate.

"He embodied everything I want in a leader," Kelly said, choking up.

Kelly herself was raised by activist parents, who kept a shrine to Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy in her childhood home.

She threw an inauguration celebration because she wanted the network of Democrat volunteers to stay in touch. Many new faces came to the Democrats because of Obama, so they created a subgroup called Victorians United for Change.

That's how the mom and daughter met Melissa Roth, a technical writer. Roth was glad to find Victorians with a similar mind-set as she thought she lived in a Republican-dominated state.

She thinks that says something about Obama's ability to inspire people to believe in themselves and get active in the political process, just like Paisley. Obama's goal to improve education for a globally competitive workforce will have a huge impact on the Paisley's generation, Roth said.

"He really is the voice of the future," Roth said.

• View from an independent at a Democratic party:

  "Obama, he appeals to my better angels," Dennis Tardan, a Victoria communication consultant said. "He inspires me to get involved. Whatever change that happens has to happen from the bottom up."

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