In the year plus that I have been an active blogger, I have tried to keep this forum a politics free zone. I know that my family is far more liberal than many of my viewers and wanted this site to be about our family and friends. However, since the election is over, we want to share why we are so excited because this election was so important to us.
In 2004, we watched some guy named Barack Obama, whom we had never before heard of, give the keynote address at the DNC and we were excited to say the least. We had goosebumps, tears in our eyes and immediately wanted to do more to serve our country, our church and our community. We were excited that this man who came from humble and often turbulent beginnings could work hard to get the best education that America has to offer and use his amazing intellect to bringforth new ideas and energy to Washington.
When Senator Obama announced that he was running for president, we were excited and conflicted as we were fans of Hillary Clinton as well. When the primary process was over and Obama was the clear nominee, we put as much energy into his campaign that we could with Tony's schedule and having an infant in the house. We were proud to be supporters. I used the Obama website to make calls for Obama from my cell phone a few times a week. I participated in opinion surveys for the DNC to help keep them on message with their constituency. I even volunteered to drive the elderly and disabled to the polls but they had such a great turnout, I ended up not being needed. We would have to have done more, but giving our time was a challenge with Tony's schedule and having an infant at home.
On April 23, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr gave a speech saying "I have a dream that one day my children will not be judged for the color of their skin but by the content of their character". I am proud to say that America has finally come to this. Obama didn't run on a black agenda, but on an American agenda. As the mother, aunt and Godmother of bi-racial children, I am brought to tears with ideas of the continuing opportunities our future generations will have. This is not why we voted for him but it didn't fully occur to me until last night what this means. When the news finally broke that Obama is the President Elect, I just looked at my son and I cried. Our nation has taken one giant leap toward its quest to become a more perfect union.
Our country was founded on ideas. Our founding fathers didn't have decades of governmental experience, but they were intellectuals who were called to service and inspired their friends and neighbors to serve their country and communities. Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton just to name a few, had these audacious ideas and philosophies that were formed by their studies of comparative politics and life experience. These ideas were brought forth in our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Federalist Papers, etc. As Americans, we need to expect more from our leaders, we need intellect in the White House again. And we need to be inspired to serve our communities, neighbors and country. Obama inspires Tony and myself to be better people, better Christians, better Americans. We feel so blessed to raise our son in this environment and confident about the future because the right man was chosen for the job.
For the last 8 years, many of the more progressive voters in the US like Tony and I, have felt that we were outsiders in our own country. That our President didn't care about our views and we're "either with him or against him". As a result, there has been a polarization of views in this nation for almost a decade and when the economic crisis that has hit and affected all of us, it seems that we are becoming more unified as a nation. We have nothing but respect for Senator McCain and his service to our country, as we are a military family, but we just couldn't get behind his platform for a variety of reasons. We know and understand that many of our friends are more conservative than we are but we hope that in the aftermath of this historic election, that this country again can be unified and we can all stand proud as Americans as we move forward through the future and restore America's respect in the world.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, we welcome your comments if you'd like to share them. God Bless America!
