Wow. It's hard to know where to begin here. So much of this space has been dedicated to covering the election, and now that it's over it feels weird to be writing again. But, really, nothing is over, and if anything this is the start of something big.
VICTORY
I've been following and supporting the candidacy of Barack Obama since before it was made official. Beginning with his emergence to the national scene I was deeply struck with how inspiring he was, how soaring his rhetoric was, and how he seemed different than any other mainstream politician of my lifetime.
I think, especially after the Bush years, we as a nation had become jaded and neutered by the actions of our government and its partners in the private sector. Even before 2001, the political and ruling systems were a distant blip on our radar screen. Like the teacher in Charlie Brown...."blabla bla bla bla..."
Barack Obama offered the kind of talk (and yes, words are important) that I had never heard before. He promised us more than anyone else and told us we were better than our current selves. He said he had faith that America could be a better nation. Yes, he was the "hope" candidate, a special breed of vibrant intellectual Democrats that run every election and always lose (Bill Bradley in 2000 and Howard Dean in 2004).
But something about Obama made him stick. The horrible state of everything made Americans, even Republicans, willing to listen. And the more he talked, the more people liked him. Electrifying everything further was the bubbling possibility of the country's first minority leader: a black president.
Once Obama started winning states in the primary I maintained he would win the presidency, even though I doubted it. The notion of him winning appealed to deep ideals and hopes I had, and I've learned that ideals and hopes usually get steamrolled by reality, especially when you're dealing with a huge American electorate.
But this time, ideals and hopes came together and made reality. On November 4, 2008 Barack Obama was elected president.
When I heard it announced I was watching online cable in my room, in the dark. MSNBC, I think, just flashed a graphic on screen that says something like "Obama wins Presidency" and the network pundits went silent for several minutes. The only images and sounds were the roar of the crowds at Grant Park in Chicago, where hundreds of thousands of people had gathered to celebrate the victory.
What was there to say? This was one of the poignant moments of my life. Obama's election was a rejection of so many things, not just from the last eight years in this country, but from the last three hundred. It was a celebration.
When I went down to the street from my apartment I saw the San Francisco streets taken over by thousands of people chanting, cheering, and lighting off fireworks. In my neighborhood, the Mission, they had to cut off traffic due to the celebrations. I never thought I would see the day when people in San Francisco would take over streets with American flags and chants of "U.S.A.," but I saw it that night on Nov 4.
It was a happy and cathartic night for us all.
DEFEAT
No discussion of the election, civil rights, etc. would be complete without discussing the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which will amend the state constitution to eliminate gay marriage.
Many people have asked me what I think about this, and what I think is that it sucks.
For me, having different institutions of unions for different types of Americans creates, psychologically, different classes of people. This hurts all gay people, whether or not they are planning on marrying. And those that are marrying, or who have already been married, really get shafted.
The election was bittersweet because Obama made it, which is great, but gays in California and other states didn't. I'd like to point out that Barack Obama is a product of interracial marriage which at the time of his birth was still illegal in many states. Presumably he may not have been born had his parents not met in Hawaii.
There has been a lot of noise made about the fact that the black vote that turned out strong for Barack Obama voted heavily, by over a 2 to 1 to margin, to ban gay marriage in California. This has sparked some divisiveness that is sad to see. Prop 8 is no single sector's fault (except for the Mormon church who can suck a dick for all I care).
I'm hoping to see the California Supreme Court or perhaps the US Supreme Court overturn it. If not that then we'll try another proposition in 2010. The fight is never over.
KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE
Obama has said that he isn't scared going into the presidency given the current unstable climate of pretty much everything. He said that he entered politics to make a difference and this is the best time to make a difference.
While I'm sure that's true, the fact is that things just seem to be getting worse everyday. Every time I wake up, I read about some new corporation filing for bankruptcy or cutting huge, huge numbers of jobs. Just today, CitiBank failed, and I'm sure other major banks will follow this week. The major players in the US auto industry will apparently also go bankrupt in less than one month.
There is no way the government can afford to bail out every major corporation or subsidize every industry that collapses in the next few years, because it seems that most of them will in some way.
I think we're in for a major overhaul in the way we do business. Clearly some huge changes will have to be made and clearly we have to be up to the challenge. Risky.
But with great risk comes great opportunity. We're in for a hell of a bumpy ride, and I'm more hopeful about our landing with this new leadership.
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There is still racism in the country. There is still homophobia. People are still addicted to drugs and homeless still die on the street. Horrible things still happen everyday and they always will. And it is our job to make them better.
But the election of Barack Obama is something we can all be proud of. Something we should be proud of and something that should make us hopeful. We did this.
What can we do next?
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