Last night el Esposo and I exchanged a high-five when President-Elect Obama (that seems so weird to say) mentioned people that stood in line for three or four hours to vote. I think that might have been the moment the realization started to flood, the full knowledge of what the country had just done. I actually like McCain pretty well. I would have voted for him in 2000 (at which time he seemed much more moderate). But the tide has very much turned since then and his time has passed and in 2009 the United States of America will inaugurate our first black president. Not only that, but our president is going to be a guy with a name unlike any of the 43 before him. Just saying it-President Obama-seems so surreal. The movies can no longer indicate "the future" by showing a black president on a tv screen. We are already there. It is so cool.
I am wary of the coming years a bit because there are going to be a ton of challenges for a president who really is pretty untried in challenging situations as an executive. Of course, I only have to think about Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a state legislator for 8 years and a U.S. Congressman for 2 years (during which he did not particularly stand out) before he was elected president.
4 comments:
I feel you on McCain. Anyway, its great day to be an American, even though the obstacles and challenges for this president are daunting to say the least
I told David last night that I hoped Obama would be like an Abraham Lincoln--a little obscure, a little unexperienced but who would prove himself to be a skilled leader and one very noble president.
What worries me, though, is it seems that everyone is congratulating themselves more for the fact that America elected a black president rather than that we elected the best candidate. Not that I think Obama won simply because he's black or that he wasn't the best candidate, but I don't want people to regret their decision if they based their vote and their current excitement on the color of Obama's skin rather than his ability to lead. If so, America is in for a rude awakening.
I don't think I'm expressing myself very well. Maybe you get it. But in any case, I'm cautiously optimistic about what the future holds for America and our new president.
There are probably some people that voted for him because he was black. There are also probably some that did not vote for him because he was black. His image overall was likely a factor on some level for many voters, but that is an amalgam of race, age, charisma, and calm demeanor and probably some other things. I did like his image as I think it sends the right message to the rest of the world that we are not all elitist occupiers, that we are not so different from them, that we are willing to try something new and overcome our prejudices and maybe you can too. But mainly I voted for him because I'm basically a democrat and I like his ideas.
The one and only thing that makes me nervous about electing Obama is that nearly every natural disaster or aliens-taking-over-the-world movies are in a United States with a black or female president. Uh oh!
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