This morning I find myself still marveling over Barack Obama's win and what it means, and even more so, what it feels like. When I started supporting Obama's bid for the White House it felt like a dream. In March I posted this video hoping a long with the rest of the world, that the page of history might turn.
Bob Cesca said at the time, "Until recently, I honestly didn’t think it was possible. And even though it’s only the beginning, Senator Obama’s campaign is clearly our best shot to, at the very least, turn the tide against this seemingly interminable darkness." Now the darkness is starting fade, there is an absence of light no longer.
Not everyone feels that way though. I do see a few people talking about how they're disappointed in his win, and it's hard for me, I just have trouble understanding it. I am someone who tries to look at things from both sides, and understand where someone is coming from when I do not agree with them, but there must be some joy in this victory for all Americans. Even if there are particular issues that you are not on the same page with Obama on, you have to feel some shred of what the rest of us are feeling right now, don't you?
I know he has yet to prove himself as a President, and the comparison may rub some people the wrong way, but I would like know what the people who were horribly depressed when John Kennedy or Franklin Roosevelt were elected, think now. Can they recognize a watershed moment for us as a people without attaching partisan negativity to it? I hope so. I hope that Obama can earn the admiration and respect of McCain supporters, not just because I personally feel he deserves it, but because our country has been thirsty for unity even long before we were pushed to so desperately need it by the attacks of September 11, 2001. We were lacking in leadership then, and we've been given a chance to heal the divide, a chance to rekindle the world's love affair with the United States, a chance the rest of the world is amazingly ready to offer us with open arms. (Or in the case of Russia, "open arms" of a different kind. Haha not funny, I know.)
We've been wandering in the dessert too long my friends. (See, another nod to McCain, I am so non partisan.) I know that Obama may not have been your ideal choice, but this man didn't take the mic at Grant Park to decree a mandate and declare free reign. Instead he said he hears your voices, and that while we may not always agree, he will be a President to all of us.
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