Dawn of a New Day in America

Want to hear three great words? President Elect Obama.

Sounds pretty nice doesn't it. I like it. I have to say I am surprise a little by the election. I voted for Obama, but I really thought the election would be a tighter race. It gives testament to our new commander and chief. Last night NPR was talking about how Obama electrified the electorate. That African Americans, Latinos, and the young all came out to vote for Obama in record numbers. I can see that. Back in the 1990s, some one said about Bill Clinton, "The things that get you elected are also the things that get you laid." While crude, I think this statement has some truth. Obama is cool and that appeals to people. Some say blacks voted for Obama just because he is black, not because they agreed with his politics. But that is okay, because if African Americans voted for him because they saw themselves in Obama, then that is not a wasted vote. But there is more to it than that. The man has brougth something to America that I don't think anyone else has in a long time

Hope.

Through a long strange series of events I ended up in New Orleans, LA. on Tuesday night. While not planned at all, I can't now think of a better place to have watched the returns. We, Becca and myself, watched in a small bar in downtown NOLA. You must remember New Orleans was deeply screwed over by the Bush administration and by extension the Republican Party. Still NOLA is deep in the GOP south, so it was no surprise the Louisana went Republican.
But even there, where they are still trying to recover, you found a sense of hope and new beginnings. I watched a man run down Canal Street carrying an American Flag, yelling "God Bless America!"

I wish my grandparents where still around, so I could ask them if this feeling for renewal was what it was like when FDR was elected. I want to talk to my parents and see if these new spirit was there when JFK was elected, or when MLK was leading the civil rights movement. Because last night, in my mind, Obama joined those leaders(hopefully his term will end better than JFK or MLK). Obama seems to be a uniter, his multiculturalism has help bridge gaps that the Bush administration have caused with our allies in Europe. Today in Kenya was national holiday, because Obama's father was from Kenya. That is pretty influential. The real question now become how with his popularity effect the Middle East conflicts?

To this we should remember John McCain. I don't have any bad feelings for John McCain. I hope Obama keeps his word about working with the opposition. I even hope that President Obama would make McCain Secretary of State. Because right now we don't need to lose anyone.
I would like to see McCains continued involvement as not just an outreach to Republicans but to use all the experienc of McCain and Biden to help our new President.

McCain had few problems in this election. First he always seemed to come off as mad. If the McCain who showed up on Saturday Night Live a few days ago, had been running the whole time I think he would have stood a better chance. The second ,and most serious to me, was he moderated his position so much to fit in with the party line and Bush administration, that he lost what really made him a maverick. I never heard anything about national service or vetereans rights. Lastly, Palin. If you are not a extreme right wing fundamentalist, Palin scaried the shit out of you. I know she was brought in to help bring that extreme right wing side into help McCain, but she scaried off any moderates and independants McCain may have had.

Still for all our good feeling and high hopes, the real work is about to begin. We are stuck in an economic crisis that isn't going to be solved over night, in six months, a years or two. We are stuck in two wars, with potentally new ones on the horizen. The test of this president isn't going to be the election but how he solves the problems that we face as a nation. We have faith in you sir, but we are watching.