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.<\/p>\n
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\u00c2\u00a0really hit\u00c2\u00a0me. 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\u00c2\u00a0is\u00c2\u00a0capable\u00c2\u00a0of epitomizing universal ideals encapsulated in our earliest defining documents. It took\u00c2\u00a0over two centuries\u00c2\u00a0to 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”.<\/p>\n
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\u00c2\u00a0try a new approach,\u00c2\u00a0and that\u00c2\u00a0his supporters\u00c2\u00a0needed 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\u00c2\u00a0was very\u00c2\u00a0proud 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.<\/p>\n
Obama’s speech was superb. Some thought it was flat. But I don’t\u00c2\u00a0know 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.<\/p>\n
Now we will see what Obama is really made of. He has inherited a\u00c2\u00a0tough situation. But this is where great presidents are made.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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