I’ve been thinking about this post for a long time. I was going to call it something like “The Honeymoon’s Over,” by which I meant that the way I feel about Barack Obama has changed from infatuation and unconditional confidence to something a little more reasonable. Like, okay, maybe he’s not the second coming, but he’s still pretty awesome.
Those of you who were reading my blog in October and November know that I could hardly force myself to talk about anything but the election. From the first debate until the evening of November 4th, I was a nervous wreck. After the devastation of 2004, I couldn’t believe things were actually going to work out. But when they did, I was elated. I was a happy fool.
It took a while for my feet to touch the ground again. But they did, and I’ve been lost ever since. Here’s the thing. I don’t know how to feel, because I don’t know what it’s like to have a president I can respect. Somehow I thought the feelings would come naturally, but I’m struggling to find some balance between my extreme hate for the outgoing Bush administration and my extreme optimism for the incoming Obama administration.
Eight years is a long time, but the last eight years have been the most dynamic of my life. Eight years ago, I was newly seventeen. Since then, I’ve graduated from high school, stopped pretending to be a moderate, felt the crushing disappointment of being on the losing side of a presidential election, graduated from college, decided what I wanted to do with my life, moved away from home, and started graduate school.
I used my disgust for the Bush administration as an excuse to be largely apathetic, and I don’t know now what it means to be an adult citizen participating fully in a democratic system. I’ve hidden myself in the ivory tower of the academy, talking about ideals, but doing nothing. I always knew that wasn’t enough, but quite at odds with my idealism, I had very little hope.
For now, I’m going to celebrate! Wednesday, I’m going to continue the awkward process of figuring out what it means to be a participatory citizen with a president I respect.
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I am incredibly happy and excited. I cannot wait to watch Obama take the Oath Of Office tomorrow. I will feel proud — at having participated and witnessed this historic election. I will feel overwhelmed–when Obama gave his acceptance speech I cried and was unable to find the words to express all the emotions I felt. But most of all I think I will feel hopeful — that the future will be better and that change is well on its way.
It’s just such an incredible moment, and it really does give us hope (sorry to sound like a campaign message, haha). Hope that things, no matter what, can be changed and that things that seemed impossible in the past are now possible. It is weird to think that these dreams we’ve all had are now about to become a reality. But I say let’s enjoy it.
And figuring out how to be a participatory citizen is not an easy thing. I’m still figuring out how to do that, so don’t worry- it’s a process and a journey. I think you’re on the right track.
I sure am excited! I can’t wait to see what the next four (and hopefully eight!) years bring!
The honeymoon isn’t quite over for me yet — I’m still feeding on all the energy that will surely culminate at parties tomorrow night! I’m going to start this transition by reading his two books though.
Yes now let’s see how he treats college students! We’ll see if this student loan assistance for people like you in graduate school is something he actually goes through with.
I just posted about how exciting today is, but in the back of my head I am thinking that we can’t expect everything to suddenly be better just because we have a new president. I have a lot of faith and optimism concerning Obama though.
I was only 12 years old when GB was elected. Holy hell.
I am feeling so inspired in so many ways right now. I don’t have blind faith in him, but I really feel so hopeful about his abilities and his intent to change things drastically. I am thrilled to see what the next months will bring.