Poly-ticks
Oodles of facebook, twitter and livejournal updates display the range of feelings based on last night's elections. I have seen people rejoice, shrug their shoulders, accept it as it is, have mixed emotions, despair, pray, threaten to leave the country, or any other full gambit of emotions and actions. I don't particularly feel I need to add my voice to the collection, because I have nothing novel or insightful to add, but I know this is a historic moment. I will want to be able to look back on this day and know what I was thinking.
I voted for Barack Obama. I believe in Obama more than I have ever believed in any other politician. Generally I approach politics with hesitation. That may surprise you because if you've talked to me in the last year, you know that I seek out politics regularly. I listen to public radio, I joined the League of Women Voters, I read The New Yorker on a regular basis, I engage friends in political conversations, I research, I read, etc. But yet I still approach politicians with hesitation because, as most people feel, politics is corrupt. I am not cynical; I am hesitant.
In the past, I have voted for the guy I have disliked the least. I say this as if I have a long standing history of voting. This is only the second time I have voted for a president because it is only the second time I have been eligible to vote in a presidential race. Heh. But I have been aware of the elections since at least the Clinton vs. Bush election in 1992. Yesterday I cast my vote in a man I truly believe in.
When I heard why Obama became a civil rights attorney, my heart was won. He talked about how his mother was never the type to get angry unless she saw injustice being done. That was inspiring and motivating to him. He talked about his sense of helping the underdog. His whole campaign was built on hope and change. Well before he was even a politician, he gave speeches on how the world was and how the world could be. He is an idealist, without a doubt.
Of course, I do not agree on every single issue that Obama proposed, but I agreed on the ones most important to me. I vote for candidates based on where they stand on the issues. I believe in candidates because of their underlying philosophies.
Every presidential election is a case for history, but last night, especially so. It is hard to talk about Obama making presidential history without mentioning that he will be our first African-American President. I have heard and read comments, articles, discussions, news pieces on racism in America over hast several months. I wrote my own position paper that I have not published anywhere yet. I am still working on it.
It's absolutely fantastic that within half a century we have come so far as a country. It still shocks me when I hear about the wide acceptance of racism only 40+ years ago. I know that by electing an African-American President that our racism is not going to automatically disappear. I know that it's not a sign that All Is Well on the racism front. But I do think it is a milestone and a marker that is worth celebrating. I do think that our children now will grow up in a society where they will be just as shocked that there was a time that an African-American being President was a highly unlikely possibility. I would believe in Obama regardless of his race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. I believe those things helped structure who he is today, sure, but I believe in him because of his underlying philosophy. Yet, still, I am thrilled that we have broken away from the white-man-only presidency. What a huge step for America.
Congratulations, President-Elect Barack Obama.
Picture taken by Dan Francis
I voted for Barack Obama. I believe in Obama more than I have ever believed in any other politician. Generally I approach politics with hesitation. That may surprise you because if you've talked to me in the last year, you know that I seek out politics regularly. I listen to public radio, I joined the League of Women Voters, I read The New Yorker on a regular basis, I engage friends in political conversations, I research, I read, etc. But yet I still approach politicians with hesitation because, as most people feel, politics is corrupt. I am not cynical; I am hesitant.
In the past, I have voted for the guy I have disliked the least. I say this as if I have a long standing history of voting. This is only the second time I have voted for a president because it is only the second time I have been eligible to vote in a presidential race. Heh. But I have been aware of the elections since at least the Clinton vs. Bush election in 1992. Yesterday I cast my vote in a man I truly believe in.
When I heard why Obama became a civil rights attorney, my heart was won. He talked about how his mother was never the type to get angry unless she saw injustice being done. That was inspiring and motivating to him. He talked about his sense of helping the underdog. His whole campaign was built on hope and change. Well before he was even a politician, he gave speeches on how the world was and how the world could be. He is an idealist, without a doubt.
Of course, I do not agree on every single issue that Obama proposed, but I agreed on the ones most important to me. I vote for candidates based on where they stand on the issues. I believe in candidates because of their underlying philosophies.
Every presidential election is a case for history, but last night, especially so. It is hard to talk about Obama making presidential history without mentioning that he will be our first African-American President. I have heard and read comments, articles, discussions, news pieces on racism in America over hast several months. I wrote my own position paper that I have not published anywhere yet. I am still working on it.
It's absolutely fantastic that within half a century we have come so far as a country. It still shocks me when I hear about the wide acceptance of racism only 40+ years ago. I know that by electing an African-American President that our racism is not going to automatically disappear. I know that it's not a sign that All Is Well on the racism front. But I do think it is a milestone and a marker that is worth celebrating. I do think that our children now will grow up in a society where they will be just as shocked that there was a time that an African-American being President was a highly unlikely possibility. I would believe in Obama regardless of his race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. I believe those things helped structure who he is today, sure, but I believe in him because of his underlying philosophy. Yet, still, I am thrilled that we have broken away from the white-man-only presidency. What a huge step for America.
Congratulations, President-Elect Barack Obama.
Picture taken by Dan Francis