Yes We Can!!!

I actually feel as though a burden has been lifted-- the burden of cynicism shackled upon me by eight years of the most corrupt and criminally inept administration in American electoral history. I honestly did not believe that I would see an African-American elected in my lifetime; I began to tear up during his speech, at which point it finally become real for me. For the first and last time I'll ever say this: Thank you George W. Bush! Without your perpetual mangling of the Republican brand and years of dirty politics Americans would not have been disgruntled enough to even make this election possible. We have finally lived up to the dream of America. For so long, all we had was symbols of America, the trinkets of wisdom delivered by elementary school teachers to their pupils, but those symbols and words, that America is a land of opportunity where any child can grow up to occupy the highest office, have been made manifest. We have demonstrated that we are a hopeful nation, capable of change. As Obama indicated, his election is "not the change we seek," but an opportunity to begin the long process of change, an opportunity to apply salve to the long festering wounds of our country's original sin, brought to the surface by the Civil War, exacerbated by Jim Crow, and torn open by the culture wars of the 1960's.

To be certain, McCain's own bungling did not help his cause. His 90% voting record concordance with Bush stymied his claims of being a change candidate himself, having, like Hillary, dropped the experience moniker when polls demonstrated its ineffectiveness (given the nature of the election as a referendum on Bush). His was a largely nasty campaign, having resorted to guilt by association tactics in the absence of substance. Indeed, if McCain had run his campaign with half as much grace as he gave his concession speech we may have actually seen a different outcome. Perhaps we were witnessing the real John McCain, unencumbered by his neo-con handlers. Maybe that's what he meant when he said that the failure was his--his failure to act out of principle, rather than Rovian calculation. Finally, enough cannot be said about the role of Sarah Palin in bringing about his defeat; shortly after her appearance on the national stage, the Republicans began hemorrhaging endorsements from prominent members of their own party (most notably perhaps was Colin Powell)--a phenomenon dubbed by Andrew Sullivan the Obamacons. Of course, none of this detracts in any way from the fact that Obama ran one of the tightest, most disciplined campaigns we have ever witnessed, while bringing a previously unknown sense of ownership of the campaign to the common people. The pride that he (and the rest of us) must feel is very much deserved in every single way.

Despite the historical nature of his candidacy and its primacy in my remarks, Obama will not be the "black President." Indeed, and part of the special quality of his election (especially given the historical marginalization of biracial children by both races), Obama is biracial and multi-ethnic. However, as Obama's speech indicated, he will be all of our President. Does this mean that Obama will herald a new, post-racial age? I don't believe so. Despite the stunning electoral vote margin by which he won (349-163), the popular vote was still close (52-46); even though Obama was the first democrat to win the popular and electoral vote since Carter, the sheer number of Americans voting for McCain (especially in an election where the the economy was the number one issue, and McCain acknowledged that he knows nothing about economics) indicates that we still have a ways to go.

I believe that McCain erred in portraying the victory as one belonging primarily to African-Americans. The victory belongs to us all; it certainly belongs to the conservatives who championed an America in which people pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps, as Obama has done; it belongs to everybody who hoped the nightmare of the Bush years would come to an end; it belongs to everybody who hoped to see America's image in the world restored as a beacon of hope; it belongs to the young, who turned out in unprecedented numbers (1,000 students at Penn State at 7:00 am); it even belongs to the internet (and thus Al Gore, I suppose), which allowed a never-before-seen level of networking by people across the nation towards a common goal.

Will his presidency signal a post-partisan world? I doubt that as well; states that were expected to go Republican still went red, though Obama has certainly created more potential swing states. We can count on the fact, however, that the republican brand has been tarnished for many years to come. They now must return to their caves and reevaluate their platform or else be forever relegated to obscurity as the party of fringe gun nuts, racists, and xenophobes. Given the now fractured nature of their party, the Democrat's seat gains in the Senate, while not a filibuster proof majority of 60 seats (unless the 4 remaining seats all go blue, which they won't; maybe Franken will win his very close race, and Georgia, if there is a run-off and the 3% of the vote the libertarian garnered go to the Democrat, but that's it), may be enough to allow Obama to actually pass some legislation, a feat not accomplished by the Democratic controlled Congress after the midterm elections (due to Republican obstruction).

Does that mean that Obama will lead from the left, creating a liberal utopia? I doubt that as well. In fact, Obama will probably turn out to be more centrist than I'd like. The magic of Obama's political career has always been his ability to bring together both sides of the table to mutually agreeable solutions. The question in my mind now is, where is the center? Markedly to the left of its position for the last eight years to be certain--so the pendulum swings. Only time will tell just how far it will swing, but there is clearly momentum there. It is up to us all to continue its path and prevent a premature correction.

Yes we can!