People, did that election really just happen?
I’ve had a hard time figuring out what to write about the election of Barack Obama last night; it’s just such a stunning leap for America, after the hyper divisiveness of the last 8-16 years. All along I, even as a white American, feared that the politics of race and culture, which were arguably stoked by the McCain campaign in the final month or so of the election, would carry the day.
And then there was the post traumatic stress disorder of the 2000’s – hanging chads and recount battles in Florida. Many, many Democrats believe that election was stolen, not merely by an electoral system that favored geographic diversity, but by the one government body that was meant to be unpolitical- the Supreme Court. And then came voting irregularities Ohio in 2004, calls for Kerry to contest the state. Could the voting machines be trusted anymore? Was this really the greatest democracy on Earth?
So when first Pennsylvania, then Ohio, then Florida and even Virginia were called for Senator Obama without incident or significant delay, and in fact, with comfortable margins, it just didn’t seem real. But not quite believing it didn’t stop Democrats from reveling into the wee hours around this country last night. But it wasn’t just about Democrats; it was really about the man we had elected and what it meant for the country at this time in history. Over at fivethirtyeight.com, I found a great description of the mood here in Washington, D.C.:
America’s only remaining buttoned-downed town, horns were honking in a ticker-tape stream until three in the morning, and strangers black, white and otherwise were hooting and hollering and giving one another thumbs-ups and high-fives as they passed each other on the street.
There was no sense of anger, or rivalry, no sense that the enemy had been vanquished. There was, rather, a tremendous sense of empowerment in the notion that someone more like them was going to take up residence down the street: someone younger, someone blacker, someone poorer, someone who knew that the majesty of America exists not just in the tranquility of its small towns but also in the bustle of its cities.
It was an historic and emotional night for America. There’s no way to know exactly what kind of president Mr. Obama will turn out to be. But his election tells a lot about the electorate who just sent the first black man in the history of our country to the White House. We may not all agree on the politics, but maybe, just maybe, we are not quite as divided as we feared.
Inform Your Consent 