2 posts tagged “election”

This post is extremely personal to me. I don’t even know if I can convey what I truly feel right now. It is 11:25 p.m. on January 20, 2009 and I spent the entire day watching Barack Obama’s inauguration as the 44^th President of the United States. Today for me was a day of such emotion. As I write this I am still tearful and emotional. Tears of joy and laughter. Tears of hope. Tears of progress. I watched Pres. Obama become president never forgetting what his forefathers struggled and fought through to make this day possible. What Dr. King and his ancestors, contemporaries and legacies worked so hard to achieve. What I never thought but always hoped I would see in my lifetime. I watched Pres. Obama become president knowing how hard I and others worked over the last few years to get to this day. Believing in change. Believing in hope. Believing in this man who we wholeheartedly feel will continue to make the United States a great nation. I am so overcome with emotion after today’s events. After celebrating them all day I now settle in by myself to absorb the enormity of the events and the immense tasks that lie ahead for him and everyone. It won’t be easy. He’ll make mistakes. But tonight, I lay my head down exhausted, thrilled, overwhelmed, yet so peaceful. As I said in my last post, give this man the opportunity to make us greater than we are. I go to bed with a smile and hope and trust.

I'm going to break one of my cardinal rules of blogging - expressing my own personal, political opinion. My apologies now.

I will admit that I am voting, and am a registered, Democrat. However, I 150% respect everyone else's political leanings and opinions, and don't intend to start a debate. We live in the country we live in and am very lucky and privileged to disagree.

That said: I am so excited about this election I can't stand it. Even with John McCain, the Republican, in the race. I am so happy people are finally coming around to how historic this election is. It's significance cannot be understated for obvious and not so obvious reasons for the entire world. Think about it. The U.S. will have the 1st woman, 1st African-American or oldest president. I am thrilled to see this in my lifetime. I remember as a child when Geraldine Ferraro was Walter Mondale's Vice Presidential running mate in 1984. They were way ahead of their time, but during that same election year, Jesse Jackson became a viable candidate in his own right for the Democratic nod. Fast forward 24 years. How amazing.

I have gone out of my way to watch every debate, Democratic or Republican, that I could. Especially the Democratic ones. I was talking to coworkers today and we all agree that in past elections we never cared about debates this early in the game. Welcome to a whole new ballgame.