Tis of Thee

I’ve read all of the newspapers. I’ve watched all of the coverage. I’ve combed through the returns and I’ve listened to the pundits. Nowhere, not in any of the statistics or any of the articles has the spirit of this election truly been captured.

Whether you supported Obama or not (statistics say most of you did), what happened last night is something for which we must all be proud. People crawled out of the tiny corners of this country to come and vote. People cared, people wept. I believe what lies ahead for President-elect Obama is mighty. His burden will be more than any of us can imagine. A country at war, a financial crisis, a healthcare system in chaos and a budget in deficit – these are the things that await our next President. Let us pray that the man who projected such calm wisdom on the campaign trail can deliver because, as a nation, never has it been more necessary that a campaign promise be fulfilled.

After 10 years working in politics, I can assure you I have my opinions on what goals are feasible and what are just empty promises. However, last night Obama and his team re-wrote the electoral map and shattered expectations for turnout. For students of politics, a new era of modern presidential politics was ushered to the stage last night, in form of a proud, intelligent black family.

As far as California, honestly some of the results were shocking. The passage of Prop 8, was a complete surprise. Again, conventional political wisdom says that high turn out elections skew liberal – which would have boded well for the No on 8 campaign. However we learned something about these not so often voters – those from the black and hispanic community are not in favor of gay marriage. I guarantee you the political statisticians and demographers and busy crunching whole new sets of numbers based on last nights’ results.

So what now? Now we wait. Now we try to enjoy the holiday season and the lack of political yard signs/commercials/flyers/etc. We wait, with baited breathe to see if we brought real change to Washington, DC or just another eloquent man with big ideas. I hope and pray for this nation and its’ future that it is the former. However, nothing can take away the leap of hope that race relations made in American last night, and I am proud of my country at this moment, for that alone.

Related posts:

1. I liked her.
2. Shock.ing.
3. 9-11-08
4. A great night in Iowa
5. Hell Hath No Furry Like a White Elitist Lady Scorned…