There was a subtle hypnosis in the framing of the campaigns. Forward, believe, though I do not pretend that I’m versed on the intricacies of mind control, I think it goes without saying we are all susceptible to some degree of suggestion. Perhaps that better embodies how and why the election went the way it did than anything that the talking heads can provide? Maybe that explains why the changing electorate so decisively cast their votes in the President’s direction? Or why so many Americans fell in lock step with a candidate that could not decide or articulate what his core values were? Because we wanted to move forward, we wanted to believe.
To Romney’s credit, he ended his near decade long campaign for the White House with grace and elegance. Though to some it appeared less than genuine. Like a well-trained butler, he demurely left you feeling served and appreciated, though his heart be elsewhere. I must say that I was most proud of the comportment and decorum of his audience. After the outright shenanigans of the RNC, they chose to end their election hopes with a clear tone of allegiance that trumped their clearly broken dreams.
When President Obama took the stage last night, he solidified for us all that as Chris Matthews would say, the appeal to the better angels, was worth the fight. After 18 months of emails, conference calls, door knocking, grit and grind, he thanked America. He assured us “the best days of our great nation are yet to come”. He reminded me that my experience of the world is not my children’s. As I prepare them for life and teach them the values we hold dear, values like fairness, love, honor and gratitude are not just limited to our family but shared by our nation. Love him or hate him, there is no one living better at delivering a speech than he.
Though I did not cry the way I did in 2008, I felt a swelling pride and a hopeful exuberance. Yes Mr. President the best IS yet to come. Through a coalition of Blacks, Whites, Asians, Latinos, young, old, Men, Women, Gays, married, singles, religious and secular we must govern and lead. Where there is pessimism and fear the best of America cannot exist, cannot thrive. For so many, last night hope and hard work, challenge and opportunity, converged in a fitting mosaic of the American people. Last night American remained the first word that our citizens identify as.
In the cynical game of politics, little is ever just what it seems. There's some inference drawn from the data, the exit polls, and the 538 prediction. (Allow me to take a moment to drop the mic on Nate Silver’s behalf.) The victory was rousing. The failure of the movement to take America back from the arms of the progress that have embraced her was epic. Despite the pride, I have in my country, and how much more the history of my family in this country means to me, I know that there are difficult days ahead. There are tough decisions to face, more work to do and, I am confident that hope that will carry us forward. Hope in our shared goals and shared vision of the American dream enduring. It is hope that will carry us through the tightening we may feel, the choices we will have to make. Both sides asked for a “collective bargain” to fix the problems we face. However, this election has made us examine the daunting cost of progress.
The roughly $2 Billion dollar tab has cast a glaring spotlight on the American way of securing our future. It has also shed light on the dark presence looming on the horizon. It is a game changer without an easy answer or quick fix. The fiscal cliff is coming and, most of America has no idea what that means. Though we should all pause and acknowledge that today is a time for celebration, tomorrow's tests will not wait for our glasses to empty, or the parties to play their last song. Tomorrow hope must be replaced with solutions and leave a seat at the table for those that feel that their America has left them behind.
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