President Obama

As John McCain was giving his closing remarks at the debate tonight, I had a thought that filled me full of happiness. This was the thought process: McCain should not be trying to make this point about trust. He just doesn’t come across as genuine. I wouldn’t believe him anymore if he told me the sky was blue. >>> I can’t wait to hear Obama’s closing remarks; I just love to hear him speak. >>> I can’t even imagine having a president I respect. I’m too young to know what that’s like. >>> Wow. Obama could really be our president in just a few short months.

For weeks, I’ve been thinking that John McCain is going to lose. But, I’ve tried not to get my hopes up about what that would mean. I haven’t even let myself think of President Obama.

When we elected George W. Bush the first time, I was sixteen. I didn’t know anything about politics. The number one thing on my mind was getting my license. The second thing was probably *NSYNC. As a senior in high school, I took AP Civics, and my eyes were opened to politics for the first time. My conservative teacher tried to drag this bleeding heart right, but the best he could manage was left of center. When I got to college, I finally found my people. It’s a pretty awesome feeling when you’re surrounded for the first time by people who think like you do. I had a lot of hope.

Then we elected Bush for a second term. I was devastated. I’d never felt so alienated in my entire life. I just couldn’t understand. I took solace in the academic community, and eventually we moved on, but I’m not proud to say that I’ve made it through these last four years in politics mostly by closing my eyes and turning my head.

In class, we dream. We talk about peace. We talk about how people should relate to each other. We talk about how we exclude when we should accept. We talk about the very real chance we’ll destroy ourselves, but we hold out hope that we can change our behavior. We talk about the devastation of globalization, and how we can help those it’s left impoverished. We remain optimistic, because the only other option is to passively ride this ship as it sinks into the depths.

I am a dreamer in many senses of the word. But, I am not impractical. I refuse defeat, but I’ve grown far more pessimistic in just the last year alone. The more you learn, the more you discover how overwhelmingly complicated everything is. There are no simple solutions to any of these problems–not with our global economy, not with foreign affairs, not with health care, not with education, not with global warming.

I belong to a community of people, mostly academics and progressive Christians, who are fighting for things that I believe in with my whole person. But, we are a small group, and these are not the problems of small groups. They are global problems. They cannot be blamed on radicals or corrupt individuals. They are built into our systems, our institutions, our practices, our very modes of thought. We all participate in them, and so we are all responsible for them.

Systemic problems require systemic solutions. It’s what you’ve always heard about teaching a man to fish. And, that’s why simply hearing Obama and Biden–people in power–name the problems that we’ve named, and propose solutions that we can support, restores some of the hope I’ve lost. Even just to hear them give logical arguments, respond directly to criticism, and talk to me about the America I experience, sets them apart from the competition.

I don’t agree with Obama on everything; we disagree on capital punishment, gay marriage, and even economic issues. But, I’m not looking for a president to put up on a pedestal. I’m looking for a president who will make progress, or, at the very least, stop or slow down the cycle of decay. And, I think Obama is that president. I agree with what he says, and I believe what he says.

In 2004, when the majority of the voters in this country disagreed with me, I felt alienated. It’s pleasant to think that if the majority agrees with me this time, I will feel embraced. But, recent events at McCain-Palin rallies have made me realize that there are so many people in this country for whom this election seems life or death, and not all of them will be voting like me. I don’t want them to be devastated like I was devastated, and I’m not naive or arrogant enough to think they’ll eventually come around to my way of thinking.

But, I’ll worry about that later. Tonight I’m just soaring on the very real possibility that Barack Obama will be our next president. I’m giddy at the thought of being proud of my president and proud of not just what this country has done or it’s potential, but what it’s doing now.