Hope Won

President Barack Obama.
Wow. We did it! We voted for hope rather than fear; America made a choice that reflected the
beliefs that so many of us have held dear for decades.
On Election Day, as I was watching the returns come in, I kept thinking about my visit this summer to the Bethel Woods Museum. If you haven’t been there yet, I suggest you make it a point to go. For there you can take a walk through the fifties and sixties, and remember the civil rights struggles of those days, the protest marches against war and for equality, and especially the spirit that began to grow in those decades saying that we are all God’s children, black and white, gay and straight, young and old.
And America belongs to all of us.
For quite a while now, we have been living in a land of fear, where our leaders tried to manipulate us and stoke our hatred of “the other.” “The other” is that person who doesn’t look like us, doesn’t speak our language, may have a different religion or skin color. We have watched as we went into a war that proved needless, since the weapons that were supposed to be there never existed. We have watched as our country used torture on prisoners. We have watched as our workers lost their jobs and our families lost their houses. We have watched as the hypocrisy of “No Child Left Behind” became yet another unfunded mandate and enriched the test makers as it demoralized teachers and students alike.
Where were the protests of the sixties? Granted, there were some big marches against the war, but it felt like our country had lost its soul, or had grown too tired to stand up to the injustices of the age.
And then, somehow, during this endless election cycle, a movement began to grow as Barack Obama’s unlikely candidacy became reality. And all those folks who were weary of the Bush doctrines went online and found that Obama’s campaign needed them. They got on busses and planes and traveled to wherever they were needed to knock on doors or make phone calls and spread the word. And once again, they dared to hope that the United States might be able to live up to its greatest promise: that a person here is judged by the content of his character, not the color of his skin, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so eloquently put it.
Then we went to vote, afraid to hope that it actually might happen.
My daughter voted in Manhattan, standing in a line three blocks long. She watched an elderly black woman making her way down the sidewalk in her walker, her head bent down, intent on finding her way. When she looked up and saw the lines of people out to vote, a huge smile spread across her face.
This is the United States of America that I love; a place of fairness and equality and even playing fields. A meritocracy that remembers its soul; a place where hope lives and dreams come true. Yesterday, Oprah was wearing a shirt that declared: “Hope Won.”
Yes, indeed.

Voting for Hope

Is the election over yet? I was reading through a column I wrote back in February, when I was already tired of the months and months of political wrangling between candidates.

Yes, if it is a word, I am tireder than I was eight months ago.

I know for whom I am going to vote, and I’ll give you a clue: my candidates never supported a bridge to nowhere. My candidates cannot see Russia from their front porches, and they are not particular friends with Joe (aka Sam) the (non) plumber.

My candidates are not (contrary to what you may have heard), Arabs, Muslims, friends with terrorists, or Marxists.

Have you guessed who is going to get my vote?

Yep, it’s Obama and Biden.

All I want is a fresh start, with someone with new ideas, a keen intellect, and the ability to make sound decisions for my country, which has gone further and further off the rails for the last eight years.

I want a leader who will restore our standing in the world. I want someone who will help us discover our best selves again; to reclaim the hope and promise of our wonderful country. And, for me, Obama is the man with the plan.

But the negative campaigning is really discouraging.

Like Wall Street’s wild ride, this politicking seems to have no bottom. Just when you think it can’t get any nastier, it does. I would venture a guess that many Americans are tired of all the venom and hatefulness that has become evident in the final days of this political battle.

Historically, elections always get negative. I have read enough biographies of American Presidents to know that much. We may think that we have reached new lows, but it is pretty standard fare to accuse one’s opponent of everything from treason to dishonesty to failing to pick up his socks.

The reason that we feel so worn out is probably because the modern primary season goes on forever and these candidates have been at it, in one form or another, for two years now.

So let’s take a deep breath and do what I suggested back in February. Let’s dispassionately look at the issues that matter to us, whether it is health care, education, or energy, and compare the candidates’ positions. This information is all out there, hiding amidst all the ad hominem attacks and distractions.

Do the research. Make your choice. Don’t engage in the hateration.

And then vote. And hope to goodness that by next Tuesday night, we know who our new President is. Spare us, dear Lord, from the curse of the hanging chad!