Elation
Not since John Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in 1960, the first Presidential election I was able to vote in, has the result generated so much elation, possibility, energy, and hope. Just like then, the Obama candidacy introduces the possibility of change for the better championed by a young energetic representative of a new generation. I can vividly imagine the deep depression I would be feeling had McCain and Palin won and the reaction in the country from blasé acceptance to anger at the outcome.
Once Obama hit 200 electoral votes and we knew that the 77 votes from California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii were a given, it was time to celebrate. The Bradley effect was obliterated and the fear of a racial backlash gone. People were dancing in the streets and are still smiling days later.
Not that the country doesn’t remain divided, but a significant milestone has been passed and equal opportunity is no longer just a phrase that the powerful use to cover up reality. The Republicans are now left with old white voters, southern conservatives, and the farm states in the middle of the country. This decreasing demographic has run into a wall of African American and Latino minorities, and educated urban and suburban whites. Obama won each of the 19 states with the highest percent of voters who have an advanced degree.
There are still a lot of red states on the map, even with the electoral landslide, but a better way of looking at what happened is the map published in the NY Times. Just click on the title of this post and go to the third map entry. It shows each county in the US colored blue if the county's vote total was more Democratic than in 2004 and colored red if the county voted more Republican than in 2004. Looking at it this way it is nothing but blue skies.
In one day, this election reversed eight years of diminishing respect for the US throughout the world. It changed the anti-American feelings that Bush has generated and amazed people abroad who thought the US could never reject its racial past. Obama has become the source of hope for millions of people, no doubt an impossible position to be in (a young barber in Kenya was quoted as thinking that now he would get enough money to open his own barber shop) and compared to the cynicism that has characterized politics, this is a boon.
John McCain resurrected some of his lost dignity by making a gracious concession speech. Had he conducted his campaign with the demeanor he displayed during the speech (and of course if he hadn’t capitulated to the Republican base by emulating Bush’s policies, picking Palin, and running a negative campaign), he might have been elected.
McCain referenced the special significance of this election to African-Americans. Exemplifying this was a cartoon by Bok in the Akron Beacon Journal of a young African-American boy holding a basketball telling his parents that he did not think a career in the NBA was realistic so instead he was going to be President.
Not only were African-Americans thrilled at the outcome, so were many, many people, regardless of color. This election was exhilarating as it showed the progress the country has achieved, and it resonated for those interested in justice, especially those who lived through the civil rights era in the sixties.
Too many people voted against Obama just because he wasn’t white. But they will now see what they have been able to avoid seeing in the past – a smart and accomplished leader, who happens to be black, and who will, therefore, make the presence of someone of a different color meaningless as long as that person is capable and competent.
Even George Bush seems to be caught up in the wave of good feeling that has been generated. He is making a significant effort to bring about a transition to the Obama administration given the high stakes of not doing this well.
The Republican leadership in Congress, though, is still at a loss to understand what just happened to them. Following the appointment of Rahm Emanuel to the position of Chief of Staff, they issued a press release condemning this as a partisan appointment: that reaction of course was as partisan as you can get. Emanuel is a tough politician who is willing to say what is on his mind, and will do so to the President as well as to anyone in ear shot. What he brings to the position is experience and knowledge of the White House, Congress, and the private sector and a deserved reputation for getting things done even if that means compromising his ideology. That is exactly what a President should want in that position. Obviously the Republican leadership realizes that and is critical because they would rather have an ineffective person in that job.
So as we contemplate a change in Washington, let us concentrate on some of the benefits of this election:
No more having to listen to George Bush stumble though his public utterances and read about how uninterested he is in ideas when he knows in his gut what is good for the country
No more having to see Cindy McCain attached to John’s side. (Would she have been there during Cabinet meetings and press conferences)?
No more Sarah Palin attacks intended to divide the American people.
No further far right appointments to judgeships.
And after January 20, 2009 the reversal of over 200 Bush executive orders that stymied scientific findings on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights, California greenhouse gas emissions, and food and drug regulations.
No wonder so many people are smiling.
N.B. In reply to Anonymous’s comment on the last post, I would like to congratulate the writer for discerning that I was pleased with the outcome of the election. I would also like to make clear, however, that as long as George Bush remains President, Bush League will remain vigilant.
But the blessed day is coming and a blog named Bush League will no longer make much sense. So I think a new blog with a new name will be required. Stay tuned, but Generation O sounds like it might work.
Once Obama hit 200 electoral votes and we knew that the 77 votes from California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii were a given, it was time to celebrate. The Bradley effect was obliterated and the fear of a racial backlash gone. People were dancing in the streets and are still smiling days later.
Not that the country doesn’t remain divided, but a significant milestone has been passed and equal opportunity is no longer just a phrase that the powerful use to cover up reality. The Republicans are now left with old white voters, southern conservatives, and the farm states in the middle of the country. This decreasing demographic has run into a wall of African American and Latino minorities, and educated urban and suburban whites. Obama won each of the 19 states with the highest percent of voters who have an advanced degree.
There are still a lot of red states on the map, even with the electoral landslide, but a better way of looking at what happened is the map published in the NY Times. Just click on the title of this post and go to the third map entry. It shows each county in the US colored blue if the county's vote total was more Democratic than in 2004 and colored red if the county voted more Republican than in 2004. Looking at it this way it is nothing but blue skies.
In one day, this election reversed eight years of diminishing respect for the US throughout the world. It changed the anti-American feelings that Bush has generated and amazed people abroad who thought the US could never reject its racial past. Obama has become the source of hope for millions of people, no doubt an impossible position to be in (a young barber in Kenya was quoted as thinking that now he would get enough money to open his own barber shop) and compared to the cynicism that has characterized politics, this is a boon.
John McCain resurrected some of his lost dignity by making a gracious concession speech. Had he conducted his campaign with the demeanor he displayed during the speech (and of course if he hadn’t capitulated to the Republican base by emulating Bush’s policies, picking Palin, and running a negative campaign), he might have been elected.
McCain referenced the special significance of this election to African-Americans. Exemplifying this was a cartoon by Bok in the Akron Beacon Journal of a young African-American boy holding a basketball telling his parents that he did not think a career in the NBA was realistic so instead he was going to be President.
Not only were African-Americans thrilled at the outcome, so were many, many people, regardless of color. This election was exhilarating as it showed the progress the country has achieved, and it resonated for those interested in justice, especially those who lived through the civil rights era in the sixties.
Too many people voted against Obama just because he wasn’t white. But they will now see what they have been able to avoid seeing in the past – a smart and accomplished leader, who happens to be black, and who will, therefore, make the presence of someone of a different color meaningless as long as that person is capable and competent.
Even George Bush seems to be caught up in the wave of good feeling that has been generated. He is making a significant effort to bring about a transition to the Obama administration given the high stakes of not doing this well.
The Republican leadership in Congress, though, is still at a loss to understand what just happened to them. Following the appointment of Rahm Emanuel to the position of Chief of Staff, they issued a press release condemning this as a partisan appointment: that reaction of course was as partisan as you can get. Emanuel is a tough politician who is willing to say what is on his mind, and will do so to the President as well as to anyone in ear shot. What he brings to the position is experience and knowledge of the White House, Congress, and the private sector and a deserved reputation for getting things done even if that means compromising his ideology. That is exactly what a President should want in that position. Obviously the Republican leadership realizes that and is critical because they would rather have an ineffective person in that job.
So as we contemplate a change in Washington, let us concentrate on some of the benefits of this election:
No more having to listen to George Bush stumble though his public utterances and read about how uninterested he is in ideas when he knows in his gut what is good for the country
No more having to see Cindy McCain attached to John’s side. (Would she have been there during Cabinet meetings and press conferences)?
No more Sarah Palin attacks intended to divide the American people.
No further far right appointments to judgeships.
And after January 20, 2009 the reversal of over 200 Bush executive orders that stymied scientific findings on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights, California greenhouse gas emissions, and food and drug regulations.
No wonder so many people are smiling.
N.B. In reply to Anonymous’s comment on the last post, I would like to congratulate the writer for discerning that I was pleased with the outcome of the election. I would also like to make clear, however, that as long as George Bush remains President, Bush League will remain vigilant.
But the blessed day is coming and a blog named Bush League will no longer make much sense. So I think a new blog with a new name will be required. Stay tuned, but Generation O sounds like it might work.
posted by John Weiss at 4:16 PM
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