My initial thoughts on the Obama victory and the last 18 months...

By me...


The following thought may come-off as a cliché; however, my understanding is that cliché’s are phrases that are “always” said in particular situations… While a similar phrase may have been said or used in some way in the past, I doubt there has been a moment where such words so accurately described such a moment.

On November 4, 2008, the dreamers and idealists showed the cynics and the ideologues, the greedy and the bigoted that in this country – our country – anything truly is possible!... Ok, I got my sound byte out of the way early…

As Obama, himself, said on many occasions, he is an imperfect candidate and despite the media assessment, those of us who so ardently support him always knew this. We’re not expecting a perfect president but a president who wears his imperfections on his sleeve and works WITH us toward a better future that we all seek.

But perhaps the greatest statement made Tuesday night wasn’t about Obama at all… it was about America. As I’ve seen and uptick in anti-gay, anti-immigrant and anti-poor rhetoric and policies over the last eight years, I began to wonder if the American I grew-up hearing about was actually the America I lived in. Tuesday night, there was no longer any doubt. While California did ban gay marriage (we still have a long fight ahead), and inequality and bigotry still exist, as a country we can overcome these instead, as was the case in the 1960s south, be defined by them.
I don’t expect Barack Obama to fully live-up to the expectations that await him; for no human could ever do so of expectations so high. But I do expect the underlying principles of empathy, compassion and collective good will to re-enter public discourse and voices such as Limbaugh’s, Hannity’s, Moore’s, etc… - who have thrived in the current partisan climate – to be slowly marginalized as the country rises above them.

I understand that there are still plenty (perhaps, a majority) who think the above it all hot air. They say the reason Obama won was simply because economic issues trumped other concerns. They forget one thing… Lehman Brothers failed in September. Barack Obama declared his candidacy in February 2007. Barack’s movement pre-dated the economic downfall, enough, so that the Freshman Senator took down Hillary Clinton and the entrenched political establishment in the Democratic Party.
When I “endorsed” Obama in an e-mail the day he declared, I did so having no idea that he would win – or even that he could win (regardless of how much I’d love to claim credit for predicting the future). What I heard and saw in him was much bigger than single policies or a political party… optimism, hope, empathy… all the buzz words that Obama’s critics cast aside as naiveté. In the end, current crises and political discourse will define particular policies but it’s what lies at their foundation that has so caught-on in America and what appealed to me the second Obama stepped-off the stage at the 2004 DNC.

The final question we all have is, what truly changed Tuesday night? Well, we will truly learn that answer over the next 4 – 8 years. But those who woke-up Wednesday morning and perceived themselves living in the same country where they went to bed Tuesday night aren’t paying attention… and that’s ok… WE’VE got 4 years to CATCH their attentions…