Good job, America!
Having spent the last few weeks hoping, praying (I don't do THAT to often) and even volunteering (not as much as I wanted to, but enough to feel a part of it all), I was really quite overwhelmed with emotion as I watched election returns last night and witnessed the election of Barak Obama as the 44th President of the United States.
There are so many reasons why this election feels significant and even a watershed event for America. First, the extraordinary grass roots effort that brought him to the finish line was inspiring to behold. If we could focus that much positive energy from Americans towards things like reforming health care fixing our educational system, and battling environmental challenges, surely we can make a difference in the future of our children and grandchildren.
Of course, there's Senator Obama himself, who somehow is able to appear charismatic but not egotistical. That's an intoxicating combination, especially with the hubris of the last 8 years. He's smart. He's empathetic. He's even chic! He's approachable, aware of his strengths and when he needs to turn to expert advisors, and above all, he's quintessentially American, in the most modern sense. A pundit on NPR today said it best: one of the many errors made by Republican campaign strategists was to think that Joe the Plumber represented American. What an antiquated notion. It's Obama, with his mixed race background, his many moves throughout childhood to lands near and far, his connections to Africa and Indonesia, that represent the new America and resonated with so many of our citizens who've never lived in a house with a white picket fence or the other trappings of yesterday's USA.
What has touched me most of all, though, is trying to imagine what this means to people of color, and specifically African Americans. I would imagine that in their wildest dreams, they thought that someday there would be a black candidate who would so rally the minority vote that he/she would overcome white rascist resistance. But to see this man so broadly supported by white men and woman across America must be, for some, emtionally overwhelming. We not only said, "This guy is OK." We said, "We want this guy, this black guy, to be our leader. For all of us."
For eight years and through two election cycles, I've agonizing over America's inability to look past itself and past what it used to be to what it needs to become. Today, I feel a bit reborn. I am wearing red, white and blue today for the first time in many years. I am so proud and happy to see the American flag. And more than anything, I am proud of my country, for our ability to move ahead, embrace change, and embrace difference as the solution to our bright future.
