So, I am writing minutes after seeing now President-elect Barack Obama’s victory speech and I have to say, that his speech was almost exactly what I wanted to hear from him. Now, I realize that a lot of you may have been immediately turned off by what you just read, but I hope you hear me out.
Barack Obama could have focused on any number of things in his speech, but he focused on a few central themes. Most importantly to me, he focused on uniting the country. If there was one thing that I hope for from Obama, it would be that he would bring us, as a nation, together. In my lifetime, which hasn’t been all that long, I have never seen so much division in this country. The truth is we have much more in common than we have uncommon. Our future President tonight spoke about working to bring people together when he said, “And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.” It is time for this country to become one, and I hope that he will work to do that once he is in office.
Anyone following this campaign knows that that it got very ugly at times. That was why I was so impressed by John McCain’s concession speech tonight. Just like Obama he could have focused on a number of things, but he too said the right things. I have to admit that I have had respect for John McCain for a long time now, ever since I heard his story and tonight he renewed that respect. McCain was very gracious tonight and I commend him on that. No matter what you may think of John McCain, there is no denying that he has a great sense of pride in our country and has served it for most of his life; we know that he cares about this country deeply. It’s too bad that our elections aren’t more like the two speeches we heard tonight. Just because we may disagree with each other, doesn’t mean that we have to resort to pettiness and fieriness.
If you know me, you know that I do not hold social or racial issues with as much importance as others. A person’s race has never been held any sway with me, and it didn’t in this election either. Throughout this election process the issue of race was on people minds frequently. Could a black person actually become President of the United States of America? Well, once Barack Obama is sworn in as President in January, we will see the first black President in our nation’s history. It hit me in that time tonight between when Obama won Pennsylvania and Ohio and essentially put a stranglehold on the electoral map and the time when the news networks basically made it official when they announced that California had put him over 270 electoral votes. I will only say that no matter how much of a role you believe race plays in American life, the election of Barack Obama is historic to American politics and history.
This election process, in all likelihood, will go down as the longest in American history to this point. I am glad that we finally got to vote. It has been a long road from the time when the candidates put there names in officially as candidates, through the primaries, and into the general election campaign. In a sense it feels like tonight is the end of that long road, but it really is only the beginning. It is now time for our representatives to take on the issues that face our country. Although some of the issues I find important probably won’t be addressed, there are serious issues facing our nation at this time that will need to be addressed rather quickly, as we all know. Hopefully the cynicism that I have felt for most of my time following politics will be cured with the actions that our representatives take once they get into office. It is a critical time in American history, and I hope that our elected officials will realize this and do what is right for our country. I am not celebrating this night as many are; I am not feeling disappointment as many others are feeling tonight either. Instead I am feeling a sense of hope and optimism for the future that I didn’t think I would feel. I only hope that the feelings that I have tonight will be allowed to persist in future days, weeks, months, and years.
Humbly,
Wes
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