response to the 2008 presidential election
yeah.
i'm posting now, because last tuesday night/early wednesday morning just seemed way too surreal. it still doesn't feel real. it just feels like the campaign ended and that i've made my peace with it - it's hard, because i kept reflecting on the ugliness at smith in 2004. the smith dems had been campaigning rigorously, carol moseley braun came to speak at smith (whom I thought had really sold-out to the Dem party politics), and the campus was buzzing with the anticipation that bush was going to uprooted from office. the democratic loss in 2004 seemed to be a HUGE blow for the campus, and as a first year, and a first time voting, i didn't necessarily understand all of the ramifications of what this election meant. i recalled the mock elections at my conservative high school, and i myself recall voting for nader during that season. i just remember the rampant unhappiness in both of these presidential elections. no one was overtly excited, no one seemed passionate about the political cause or the initiatives on the ballot. it seemed pretty dead, and very negative (2000 with the recount and claims of a stolen election, 2004, angry progessive thinkers blaming conservatives and the christian right for ignorance), where as this election, though hardly fought in debates, their campaigns and political ads, it seems to end on a much lighter note and bipartisan celebration - even though the very conservative republicans seem to claim that the country will be damned, it seems much more like how the smith environment felt on november 3rd, 2004, when the campus appeared to have died.
the night swept through so softly - i went out to dinner with my little brother and my dad to a local hibachi and sushi bar, intented on going to a more of a sportsy type of restaurant, but after finding that we'd be stuck watching fox news (welcome to virginia), we went next door for japanese cuisine offering CNN and MSNBC as our alternatives. we sat across from a family proudly wearing their "i voted today!" stickers, with their two kids and a single woman. our chef seemed quite disaffected by the tv behind him with the results. our waitstaff, as girl my sister's age, probably fresh out of high school had gone to see obama speak at his last pre-election rally in manassas, virginia, and hearing her, realized that it was a true 12 hour ordeal. she seemed excited too. everyone did - everyone seemed so passionate about the results around me, except for my mother and sister, both mccain voters who expected obama to win (not in attendence at dinner). we ate and just watched states go blue. ohio threw me for a loop when it went blue - it was the catalyst for the night, and a huge surprise moment. i was in disbelief when i heard it in the car on NPR. virginia, at 9pm EST was still unsure, and obama in the polls was behind. i was confident that if obama had won virginia, he would have taken the election. at 11pm EST, obama wins VA by a small margin, mostly coming from northern va, particularly the split county where i voted. within minutes, it flashes on the screen, president-elect barack obama, 44th president of the united states. the whole world was euphoric it seems at that time - this never would have been the case with kerry or gore. this never would have been the case with many other potential candidates, period.
the speeches from both major candidates really suited the mood of the moment - mccain gave a very humble and optimistic concession speech, certainly, the most loving one that i've heard of any candidate in recent history, and for that, i really gained more respect for mccain as person, rather than for his politics (in my opinion, he was a good image for the RNC to nominate, as he really came across as a relatively caring individual removed from his personal politics). obama's victory speech was very well written and quite inclusive - i'm sure the first presidential victory speech to include minorities like queer and disabled people, and though it felt like a religious-repeat service by the end of it, i think we all felt optimistic about the united state's future, rather than concerned with where it was going, and suddenly, the recession, the war(s), the problems at home, the problems abroad, all seemed like small stuff, and that we were laying a good foundation for a better nation, not because of a specific party in power or a certain type of person, but rather, a figure that could rouse a crowd and give them a progess and active feeling towards their nation, which to many, seems static and unyielding to different ideas.
it's not that i see him as the answer, but i do believe that barack obama will be the figurehead of a movement of pro-active decisions, where people begin to reinvest themselves with their communities. let's just hope that this vision to change america will push us forward better than FDR's new deal and sustain our determination to press onward. the time is now.