This is the New America

Middlespacers,

So the question in the last days of the election was, "...uh, so what are we going to talk about after the election?" The answer is, "The goddamn election, that's what we're going to talk about after the election!" What did you think we were going to talk about, Star Wars? No. We are going to talk about Hope and Change and President Barack Hussein Obama II [clicky].

From Cassady:

"Obama came out with all canons blazing, packing the heat and burning through the Electoral College like a banshee on fire.

• He flipped 7 states
• He held every state won by John Kerry in 2004
• He attacked the race with a deft and strategic campaign
• One that in hindsight seems so obvious

His plea to us: 'Let us summon a new spirit.'

[He's] A big game, big crowd, big idea president. While that's exciting there's also a fine line. Gone are the days of sitting on the fence. We are all now thrust into the fire, polarized and invigorated and perhaps, like a phoenix from-the-ashes reborn."

These are the times we now live in."

From Mark:

"Funny you put up "The People United will Never be Defeated" on AKD tonight. After Obama was wrapping up Virginia, I just blurted out the phrase to Julianna--I don't really know why. It's cliche as hell, but it really meant something to me right then and I wanted to share it with Julianna. I feel far less cynical today...I hope it lasts."

From Rich:

"Please tell your daughter that she will grow up on a world that is different -better- than the one I grew up in."

From Dan:

"Fuck Bush! Fuck McCain!"

From Dave:

"!"

Back when I was in graduate school, one of the professors I worked with was Thomas Pettigrew, the famous race and discrimination scholar-researcher from the state of Virginia. I remember Tom losing his damn mind when Doug Wilder was elected governor in 1989. Tom cried. I can only imagine what Tom felt last night when Virginia went blue. I distinctly remember him declaring that we've reached a new era after the Wilder victory. He even hoped/suggested that he'd live to see a black president. America just elected a black president. I threw him a quick email late last night to let him know that he was in my thoughts. Virginia was the capital of the Confederate States of America now they're voting for blacks to be president. This is the New America.

"...definitely not the Virgina I grew up in.... I'm glad to see Virginia leave the Confederacy and join the United States of America."

- Tom Pettigrew

We were watching ABC news and Charlie Gibson was like, "ABC News is not going to call the election until we are certain that one of the candidates has decisively crossed the 270 electoral college votes. In ten seconds the polls close in the western states.... OK, it is 11:00 and we are declaring that Barack Obama has been elected the 44th president of the United States." Just like that. The set up and the punch line. Bam! This is the New America.

My deceased grandmother and uncle could not have imagined that any person other than a white man could be the president. Now? It's open to men and women of all races. I think Barack's grandmother believed that it was possible. This is the New America.

And do not think that I believe that Barack Obama will fix everything right away. He may not even fix anything at all. But to stop the bleeding is a huge first step. Huge. To be the guy to seat two Supreme Court justices? Huge. To be the new face of the American future? Huge. To change the paradigm? Huge. This is the New America.

Mark said he feels "far less cynical today." Dave wrote that he feels "a weight has been lifted."

And special shout-out props to the people of Indiana, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Nevada, and mad big-ups to the people of Ohio. Thank you for voting. Thank you for thinking. And to all the people I know who actually DID SOMETHING to make this change happen--you are All American Heroes. This is the New America.

For the first time the fucking president is something very much like me. Same color and life experiences. Same view of the world and cultural sensibilities.

So now...now...I can move forward. This...is the New America.

- ty