I watched the returns as soon as I got home from tutoring last night. I was amazed at the silence at all the Obama gatherings before the election was called.
I was watching at 10 p.m. central when NBC called the election for Obama and watched the cheers. But what struck me the most was there were so many people in tears while cheering, some were on their knees praying, and I started crying. I've had a hard time stopping and I'm crying now just writing this. When I saw Rev. Jesse Jackson on TV in shock with tears running down his face, The gravity of this historic election began to hit me really hard. We live in an amazing time that equals the Great Depression, WWII, and the 1960's civil rights movement.
I've never been more proud to be an American than I am right now. The dream is a reality, all those who protested, fought and even died for equality, voting rights, and the civil rights movement did not do it in vain.
I can't imagine what African Americans are feeling. What I feel must be dwarfed by what they feel, that everyone can grow up to be President, no matter who you are, and it's now a fact. It's not a pie-in-the-sky dream.
To me, this is a "one step for man, one giant leap for mankind" moment. I'm amazed at how much bigger America became last night. I hope we showed the world by example for the first time in a very long time how great this country is and why.
Sherri
I totally agree with you, Sherri, when you talk about the overwhelming sense of history that bears down on an Obama supporter. Obama successfully used our doubts about fighting two wars at the same time, our nation's economic crisis, and the growing sense of disenfranchisement that African Americans have capability of embodying. He organized these frustrations and tied them to a transcendent sense of history: from the past of Jefferson and Lincoln to a call for the future, represented on stage by his own children.
In his acceptance speech, Obama evoked the image of a 106 yr old African American woman standing in a 4 hr line to vote. He called her the first generation after slavery, and reminded us that she was born before women could vote. And then he historically traced the social advances during the course of her lifetime. He mentioned national tragedies and social setbacks, but only to recontextualize them as the fuel for even more social advances. He talked about Pearl Harbor, but he transformed it from a national trauma into the cause of the Greatest Generation. He talked about firehosed Civil Rights leaders, but he tied them to his own presidency. And then he reminded us of the 106 yr old woman and asked what would happen if his own daughters lived into the next century: how will their memories document our contributions to history? How will we transform this century? Obama tied the past into our sense of the future.
He's a great rhetoritician, and the self-evident ability of his oratory skills to organize a nation to a specific action means that he'll be a compelling leader.
However, the work is not finished. It's only begun. What's happened up until now has been just rhetoric. If we can't get McCain's supporters on board, and if we can't raise repairing America's problems above partisan ideals, then change won't happen.
Gray,
I hear your worry. We're all a bit worried about being stopped by partisan politics. But I have to believe that President-Elect Obama will be able to persuade many who didn't vote for him to follow him. It won't just be a persuasion either. He will find ways to earn their trust through action.
He has an immense ability to inspire people. He didn't divide the country as he campaigned, he brought everyone who was interested into his fold, Hillary supporters, Republicans, Democrats and Independents. He mobilized a huge force of people to get out his vote.
He got me to participate in his campaign when I have never before worked on a campaign in my 28 years of voting. All he had to do was say he needed my help and then asked me to help. No one has ever done that before, and I never did it before. So if we ask people directly for their help and ask them to help in specific ways (and let them choose) I believe we will find a lot of people who didn't vote for Obama to work with him.
I believe we can get started with the 52% who did vote for him. He already has such a huge network of volunteers and effective methods of reaching us. I want him to use that ground game to mobilize our force for change and inspiration. If at least some of the 46% who voted against him aren't inspired by what they will see ordinary people doing to make this country and the world better under the direction of a new leader, they are a lost cause and will never do anything on their ticket to make change happen their direction either. They will continue to be naysayers no matter who gets elected.
And don't forget the 14, 15, 16 & 17 year olds who couldn't vote this time, but who volunteered and will continue to do so. They will be able to vote in 2012.
Check out http://www.change.gov, particularly the jobs section. Obama is thinking big!
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