My son Zachary posted on his Facebook page, what I think is an eloquent reaction to the election of Barack Obama. One of the exciting things about this election has been the record turnout, and the excitement that it's generated, particurly among our younger citizens. I hope it bodes well for the future, for their sake. Here's the post:
Earlier I wrote that I thought the song "Summer, Highland Falls"
was the theme song to this campaign, and that, as the song goes, I
would experience either "sadness or euphoria" by the time all the votes
were counted. Luckily, euphoria won out.
"They say that these are not the best of times, but they're the only times I've ever known."
I still haven't really processed this yet. I was optimistic, but I
wasn't sure our country had it in them to elect an African-American.
Well, I was proved wrong. I have regained faith in our nation. And now
it is up to us to work with our new president to set this country back
on the right track. And it's going to take a lot of work. And all of
that work might not be able to be completed in an Obama administration.
Even two terms might not be enough to completely repair what George W.
Bush has done to our nation. But he can set us on the right path. I
truly believe that.
I first decided I was going to support Senator Obama after I read his
book, "The Audacity of Hope." It was mainly a policy book, but it all
made sense to me. And I was struck by the lack of partisanship Obama
displayed. He was and is not an ideologue, and I knew that was a
quality I admired. But as much as I liked him, it seemed all but
certain that Hillary Clinton was going to be our nominee. I was proven
wrong. It was a grueling primary, one that I thought at the time would
hurt Obama in the general. I thought the longer it went on, the worse
shape we would be in. Again, I was proved wrong.
So after a particuarly nasty general campaign, it has all turned out
for the better. We have a truly unique opportunity here. We have to
take advantage of it. Because if we sit back and don't work hard to
improve our nation with President Obama, we will be no better off than
we were a day ago, let alone four years ago.
"So as we stand upon the ledges of our lives, with our respective similarities. It's either sadness or euphoria."
Yes we can.