The day is still young and the last 24 hours still very fresh in our minds. I'm going to try and keep this short but I want to start out by asking the rest of you individually to give your thoughtful feelings and impressions of this historic election day, the results perhaps and thoughts on the future. Some of you have yet to post and I know it's hard to share opinions when you aren't sure how they will be received or what the reply might be but I think it's important. So here I go...
Yesterday I was frantic. I spent much of the morning and afternoon really digging my head "in the books" and by that I mean online, researching every initiative and every candidate for school board or medical board or city council until I felt confident that every single vote I made yesterday would be one I could be proud of. I did just that.
On the drive home last night from shopping, some results were already coming in. It's always amazed me how the media will call a state for a candidate when less than 5% of the votes are in. I saw New Mexico called for Obama and Wyoming for McCain before a single precinct had reported. It blew my mind! Well, the votes came in and the media was right but still...how can they do that? I was happy at what they were predicting but I got really nervous that they might be jinxing it or something.
As it became more and more clear that Obama would be our next President-elect, I was filled with so much joy and then as those of you who know me would expect, the fear, the caution and the subtle tones of doubt started to creep in. I have to say that now I've got what one might call cautious optimism. I'm hopeful that Obama will be a good president and will lead us through the tough times we face now and tough times we're sure to face in the next four years. He will be challenged, that's for sure. The world wants to know if this country can still be counted on to lead. Do we still have any integrity left? Now that Bush is gone, what will become of us? Who will we be as a nation? Can we learn from our own history? Not just the past 8 years but the past 232?
Then as those thoughts started to pass I turned the channel to local news and followed as some things went my way (prop 1a, 2-7) and some didn't (Prop 8 & 10). Some of them I didn't feel too strongly about as far as my emotions were concerned. Prop 2 would help in some ways but hurt in others and really not do enough in the end. Prop 7 was poorly written but prop 10 wasn't so why did people strike BOTH down? Prop 1a seems like a rush into things. Sure this country needs a high speed rail line but north and south through CA? REALLY? Not through Washington? Not east-west to Dallas, Denver, Chicago, New York, Washington DC? Oh well. Still a good start I guess.
Prop 8 was a tough one and I've hesitated giving my opinion because my emotions behind this are strong enough that I don't have the personal strength, discipline or control to argue the point rationally. In my head, the thoughts are clear, concise and logical. I know the real stance of both sides. I know how both sides think and why they feel what they do. I don't like many of the tactics by proponents and I don't like the lack of tactics by opponents. I don't like what I've seen some citizens against the proposition have done to those who expressed favor for it. The whole thing has been very nasty and well I'm still very angry, hurt, frustrated and disappointed in a lot of people I deeply care about so I'll just say that I wish it had gone differently and I guess we'll all just agree to disagree. Maybe sometime I'll the emotions will have subsided enough that I can talk more about it without getting so upset.
So yeah this election day brought tears of joy and pain, relief and anger, pride and disappointment. All election days do to some extent I think but this one was big and so the emotions on all sides were much stronger. I'll be watching closely in the coming weeks as Obama chooses his cabinet, decides which white house staff or pentagon officials keep their posts and who are sent packing. I'll watch his first 100 days and see what he can do with a democratic majority in both houses. I tend to fall a bit on the liberal side on a lot of social and domestic issues but I do not trust the Democratic party and I worry about what might come.
I want what's best for this country and what's best is that all voices get heard, all people get to work and do what's right for themselves and for the nation as a whole and that we all, especially in our disagreements, find a level of respect for each other instead of all the divisiveness that has plagued us since 9/11 and even before that. Let's truly stand united as a family, united as brothers and sisters of our Heavenly Father, united as friends as well as brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, mothers and fathers and united as citizens of this great country. Sounds like I'm running for office don't it? I get this way around this time every four years. It's cheesy and I'll mock myself for it later but don't worry it's all in fun and I promise to be entertaining when I do it so we can all giggle a bit.
I'm confident that our lives will be better in 2012 than they are now. All of us. I love you all and that is one emotion I don't mind sharing as often as possible and as strongly as I can in words. Take care and God bless.
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Wow, Daniel, I just noticed your post. Somehow I never got an email that someone had posted something new. I’m glad to hear someone else talking about election day.
I spent that evening listening to NPR and calling James excitedly every few states. I can identify with the cautious optimism feeling. I remember when I was little my grandma had a picture of FDR on the bookshelf and I asked her once who it was. She told me about what a great president Roosevelt was and I remember thinking he must have been really something because I didn’t know anybody that had a picture of any president displayed in their house. It seems like a neat thing to have so much pride in the leader of your country. I feel like Obama can make a big difference. I worry about beauracracy bogging things down and our mounting debt keeping him from instituting all the plans he has, but overall I TRUST him. Which is weird, but I really do. I’m excited.
I can’t say I cried on election night, but there was one point that I got a little lump in my throat. James and I were sitting in the driveway after I picked him up from work, and Obama was in the middle of his speech from Hyde Park. I don’t remember what exactly he said, but he was talking about Michelle and thanking her; he called her his rock. Anyway, it just dawned on me that SHE will be the First Lady. That just seemed so huge to me. She’s this smart, strong, caring black woman and mother, and it just seemed so amazing to me to think what her example could do for young women – AND old women for that matter.
I liked the “cheesy” things you said about our country being united. That was one of the things that really fueled my hope that Obama would be elected. I’m always amazed at how he can hold his ground on an issue but bring both sides together to an understanding. That’s what I’m hoping for anyway. That we can all have the pride in our country that we felt after September 11th. When “United We Stand” was a phrase we really felt instead of being relegated to the cliché bumper stickers on the backs of pick-up trucks. I also hope that we can change our standing in the international community. If the whole world hates us it doesn’t bode well for our national security. There is SO much to be done, but I think you’re right, that if we can accomplish getting more Americans feeling like we’re all on the same team that spirit can carry on after The Hope Machine has left the White House and we definitely WILL be better off in 2012.
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