I watched the election coverage all evening on Tuesday knowing that I was witnessing something truly historic. It was not just the election of a person of color. It was also the fact that the campaign of 2008 demonstrated that we had passed some long-held barriers. The country seriously considered electing a woman as president or vice president.
As I watched the candidates speaking to the American people (and the world), I had a hard time keeping my emotions in check. I had seen other people with tears streaming down their faces but assumed they had special interests. Then I found myself fighting the tears for the next two days without fulling understanding why. Then it really hit me. I was very, very proud of our country and what we stand for. We completed an election cycle that was about the issues and about the “content of [the candidates] character”. We continued to demonstrate to the world what a peaceful transfer of power looks like. And we showed that America is capable of epitomizing universal ideals encapsulated in our earliest defining documents. It took over two centuries to achieve clear proof that we actualy believe in the principle that all “men” are created equal. We also went a long way toward making sure that the phrase “all men” is interpreted as “all humans”.
I was so proud of the speeches made by both McCain and Obama. John McCain made one of the most important speeches of his career as he recognized the historic moment and passionately encouraged his supporters to recognize that the system had worked, the American people had chosen to try a new approach, and that his supporters needed to get behind the new president. I know that concession speeches often have such language. But it looked very much to me like McCain was sincerely passing the baton and wishing his rival well. In an odd way, I think McCain was very proud of his country in that they made a choice that transcended identity politics. I also think he sincerely wants to help Obama in any way he can, not for political advantage, but because he loves America.
Obama’s speech was superb. Some thought it was flat. But I don’t know what they were watching. He covered the gamut of issues both foreign and domestic and rallied Americans around him as he laid out the challenges and opportunities ahead. I had actually not listened to many Obama speeches all the way through, mostly it had been sound bites. But I was blown away by his ability to connect to so many people on so many levels. The comparisons with Reagan as the great communicator are fully justified. Obama seems to be at least Reagan’s equal as a communicator. He needs to apply that to win over the masses that did not want to elect him.
Now we will see what Obama is really made of. He has inherited a tough situation. But this is where great presidents are made.
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I was also impressed by McCain’s concession speech. It was like I was finally seeing the guy I knew from before. He was gracious and clear in his desire for us to come together now and act like one country. Obama’s victory speech was exactly what i wanted to hear. No gloating, just “thanks, now lets get to work.” After watching so many of his speeches, I thought that it was a little predictable at the beginning, but then he really got on a role and focussed in on the many issues we have to confront. The way he tied all of these landmark events in America to the one lifetime of an elderly voter really makes you think about the potential of his presidency. Our situation is daunting, to say the least, but he somehow was able to communicate that fact somberly, while still conveing a sense of pride and hopefullness. My faith in the ability of the government to fix problems efficiently is shaky. The idealist in me wants say “this time we can get it right”; but the realist says “I just hope we can get some of the important things right.”