Well, I neglected to post much of anything during the campaigning season, so here's some reflections back on this incredible election.
Back in 2007, Bush was well out of favor, so a landslide win for the Democrats in 2008 seemed more than likely. At that point, the only one really on the scene was one Hillary Rodham Clinton. It seemed inevitable that we would be progressing from Bush to Clinton to Bush to Clinton. Senator Obama was on the fringes, the newbie with a great talent for speeches, not yet enjoying the familiarity of being a household name as Senator Clinton. To be honest, the first time I remember hearing his name was during all the fuss of the
People paparazzi shots of Obama on the beach.
As we approached primary season, suddenly the rising star took off to become a serious contender. Until after Super Tuesday, I really expected that Clinton would clearly dominate or try to dissuade him by asking him to be her VP. But while Mrs. Clinton is certainly qualified, she is a polarizing force. It seems that everyone was starkly divided toward her, with either strong support or intense dislike. In contrast, Obama not only proved himself to be equally talented and qualified, but a uniting force that brings people of many backgrounds together.
Initiate the six-month showdown: Clinton vs. Obama. It was fascinating to be teaching in Austria during this time, and trying to explain to the students what was happening and why it had stretched on so long. I polled the classroom at one point in March, and the majority of the 18-year-olds supported Hillary Clinton (a handful supported Obama and none supported McCain). Yet only a few months later,
hundreds of thousands gathered to hear Obama in Berlin and support the presidential candidate.
We all know how it ended. After a bitter season and much division and derision among the Democrats, Obama squeaked by with more votes and was declared the official candidate. We all waited tensely throughout the summer, biting our nails in fear that he might choose Hillary as his VP. Instead, he chose the well-seasoned senator Joe Biden to balance his youth.
Enter the conventions. The Democratic convention was exciting enough, as Obama and Biden began working side-by-side and really seemed to complement each other. But McCain shocked the world with his announcement of the unknown Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Someone asked me recently whether Sarah Palin lost the election for the Republicans or whether they were doomed from the start. I tend to lean toward the latter, but we cannot discount the Palin factor. Her selection electrified McCain's campaign; suddenly conservative voters were rallying with enthusiasm in the same way that the liberals flocked to Obama. She was frank, to the point, and fresh; but she was not ready for the media attention or the
interviews or the
SNL impersonations. (Do not discredit the power of
Tina Fey's Sarah Palin! Tina Fey really solidified America's view of Sarah Palin). Her inexperience and novelty status backfired.
After a few tense last weeks (with much name-calling and mud-slinging), crowded flooded the polls. I maintain that the source of these record turn-outs was not McCain or Biden, but the two younger names on the ballot--Obama and Palin. Voters came out in record numbers to show their support for the electrifying factors of each party. In the end, Change and Hope conquered the straight-talk Mavericks. People took to the streets around the country in cities both
large and
small to celebrate victory, history, and change.
I've brushed over quite a bit, but also consider More Intelligent Life's
Entire Election in a Single Graphic for a hilarious summation.
To close, a drawing that's been circulating. I don't want to emphasize the race factor, but it is not something to overlook. Obama will indeed be our first black president, but I would instead like to stress that he is our first non-white president and one of the youngest elected! We have had many excellent leaders in the past, but many have come from similar backgrounds of well-established white upper-class political families (or dynasties). Whereas Obama--with a mother from Kansas and a father from Kenya, born in Hawaii, schooled in Indonesia, educated at Harvard, and working in/with Chicago--not only represents diversity through his skin but through his life story. In many ways, he
is the American Dream. We did not elect solely the first black president, but a true American.
The Little Sandman is too adorable and to familiar to German children to not blog about. So here's a quick introduction to das Sandmännchen for German Culture 101.
