Yes We Can
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.”
Barack Obama, US President Elect, November 5th 2008
This morning, the fight between John McCain and Barack Obama finally came to an end. In the words of the BBC, “297, and that’s it”. History was made: the next President of the United States of America will be a black man. Fifty years ago, that would never have been conceivable.
Firinel wrote that “I was voter #126 in our ward at 8am. That’s CRAZY. I’m usually right around #80 when I’ve gone in the past at lunch time. It’s deeply awesome.”
To become President, the winning candidate had to gather 270 votes from the electoral college, which each state contributes to. At around 4am GMT, Obama reached 273, leaving McCain trailing behind with a score of 139.
For almost two hours afterwards, whilst the polls crept up to 338 for Obama and 159 for McCain, I cried, shaking with endorphins and celebrating with my flatmates whilst talking to other happy people in the IRC channel we’d set up for the night. I didn’t go to bed until 11am. I’m not American, but the world was watching, and I wanted to be there with them.
I began writing this at 7.30am this morning, still reeling after being so deeply worried for so long that McCain would win the election, that there would be riots across America like it has never seen; fears for what would come with one of the most powerful countries in America run by yet another Republican with such a similar voting record to Bush: I saw another four years of bad economy, of war, of stepping backwards in the fight for equality, and it scared me.
My fears, for now, have not been lived, and for that, I am grateful.
On the other hand: I was impressed by McCain. To stand down before the last polls had closed, to stand down with such dignity, to hush the crowds booing Obama - I respect him. I don’t like his politics, but I respect him.
I made a Wordle of Obama’s victory speech.
Inside the word “America” is the word “love”. I think that says everything.
This morning, America selected a black, liberal man for their President, and he stood up and strongly told the world “it’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America“ and he is right.
America spoke, and spoke loudly: Obama is change we can believe in.
Posted: November 6th, 2008 under personal, politics.
Tags: politics
Comments
Comment from Jo
Time November 6, 2008 at 5:40 am
Perfect. Thank you.
People ask me here why I care - I’m English, he’s not going to be *my* leader for the next four years…
But the thing is, I respond, look what the past eight years of Bush administration have done to the world. If America were less influential, then perhaps their elections wouldn’t matter so much. As it stands, they are the country who pride themselves on having a fair democracy an have used their power to influence countries without their system. Where America leads, it seems the rest of the world is expected to follow - and eight years of Bush rule has, as you said, led many to feel we’ve been going backwards.
But yesterday, the American people finally said “enough”. There were fears here that McCain would win - through apathy, through people not bothering to vote because they were so sure Obama would get in. But to see those queues and hear those stories of how long people took to vote restores my faith not only in political participation, but in true democracy.
I’m not going to deny it; as politicians go, I adore Obama. He’s refreshing, different, and his policies seem to stem from the common thinking shared by everyone. (Economy: don’t give tax cuts to the rich and let them solve the problem, let’s restore confidence from the bottom up, give people a bit more expendable income by relieving their tax burden!)
I have never been prouder or happier than I was last night, watching the CNN poll count down the seconds till the West Coast polls closed - and then announcing Obama in.
Yesterday we saw history in the making. This election has kind of made me feel faith in the American dream; that anything really is possible. I can’t wait to see what happens next, can you? :)
Comment from McDuff
Time November 6, 2008 at 5:40 am
I’m harshing everyone’s squee, so why not yours too?
At the same time as America was firmly repudiating Bush and electing its first black president, three states were enshrining bans against gay marriage, including California - a state so “liberal” that Obama did not even bother to campaign there, so decisively was it known that the 55 Electoral Votes would go his way.
Much is made of whether the USA is a country sharply divided between Red and Blue, or whether it is a big muchy purple. The answer is, of course, both, and neither, and it’s not that simple. But an overarching trend in American politics, just as with British politics, is that change happens incrementally and slowly amid a very small-c conservative populace. This apparent game-changing victory was the Electoral College amplifying effect on what turned out to be a 2-4% nationwide tilt towards the Democrats in general. The much vaunted turnout wasn’t that much higher than in 2004 after all. The hard core of Obama supporters absolutely swung the election on their own. What they cannot do, yet, is swing the temperament of the country on their own.
The next half year is going to be critical, while we see what this election is really going to bring. Obama is centrist by inclination and committed to American Militarism. The Russians are already edging up to the borders of NATO, which is going to pressure him to engage in tough-guy posturing to satiate the blood-lust of the US Tame Media. It’s extremely unlikely that the extra-constitutional power grab instigated by Bush will get rolled back, as it is that the policy of extraordinary rendition will get publicly and overtly repudiated. I would place an odds-on bet that GTMO will still be open at the end of Obama’s first six months.
Meanwhile, the immediate economic crisis and the long term crisis of American systemic inequality, not to mention the broken constitution, will remain hot and almost unfixable issues, hamstringing Obama with budget and policy constraints that he would not have were he recently elected to govern a country that actually worked. On the other hand, it’s only the crisis that’s given him the momentum he needed to win so decisively. What the fickle fates give with one hand they take with the other.
In short, it’s a good thing, but it’s not a simple and clear-cut good. There is a huge gap between what would have been desirable this election and what we actually got.