I could talk about the emotional reaction I had to Tuesday night’s win by President-Elect Obama. I could talk about the impromptu party that burst into existence not far from my apartment and how the sounds of it kept me up until all hours. I could talk about being nervous to fall asleep and then to wake up and find out that it had all been undone. But you’ve already heard all those stories. You’ve heard them from your neighbors, co-workers, and friends. You’ve read them on the Internet. You know them.
What I’m going to say is that for the first time in over a decade, I’m hopeful about the future — not just for myself, or for those I call family and friends, hell, not even for just my country. For all of us.
Maybe we’re getting past the racism that’s plagued this country (or maybe people have learned that their needs should outweigh their fears). Maybe we’re getting to a point where we realize that America can’t go it alone and that we’re part of a bigger whole. Maybe we’ve realized that this isn’t a zero-sum game and that other people don’t have to lose for us to win.
Whatever the case, I’m glad I was right.
See, in 2004, after the DNC was over, I downloaded some of the speeches from the then-fledgling iTunes store. And when I listened to Barack Obama’s address, I was moved to tears at the idea of America actually fulfilling its promise. I told my then-wife, who listened to it, too, “That man is going to be President someday.”
I hope that I’m right and that his election signifies an underlying change in how we, as a people, see the world and each other. I hope that his willpower and political savy will be enough to move us forward economically and socially in such a way that everyone truly benefits, and so that the idea of trickle-down economics is finally laid to a well-deserved grave. I hope that we move toward true energy independence. I hope that we’ll be out of Iraq as soon as possible, and that the proper protections are put into place for our troops in Afghanistan. I hope that eight years from now, we’re moving into a new, amazing age in which peace and prosperity hold sway and that we learn from the hard work it will take to get us there.
I hope.
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