It's Over!

It's Over! The election, I mean. Of course, I know that the election has been over for some time, but this past election has caused me to be riveted to the TV. I have spent all of my free time scouring the internet for credible sources of information. After all of the angst, worry, and fear, I'm finally coming to believe. It's over. Obama won. Yes, we still have an inauguration to get past. There is still the work of governing to be done. And, there is the fear of another election to come four years from now, but one thing at a time. Until the inauguration, I am reading Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It is a fascinating study of the American culture which led Lincoln to the White House. Much has been made of Obama, the constitutional lawyer from Springfield, and his similarities with Lincoln. Both Illinois men, both tall, lanky, with unusual backgrounds to the electorate. When Abraham Lincoln won the nomination of his party, there was much confusion over his name. It is to be hoped that the fates of these two men will be different, but other similarities are fun to note. For example, William Henry Seward the senator from New York was all but assured the Republican nomination for president, but Lincoln was canny enough to place himself second, just in case something happened to derail Seward's nomination. Lincoln then went on to nominate the senator from New York as secretary of state. Sound familiar? The world has changed dramatically over the past 148 years, but as we prepare to celebrate the election of the first bi-racial, post racial, whatever label one wants to give him, president, many of the racial attitudes hardened by this country's participation in the institution of slavery remain. Only time will tell if Obama can make a difference to those attitudes, or if prejudice remains powerful enough to diminish his accomplishments and sour the competency he brings to the White House. America is a country that often fights over the baby steps before making a giant leap forward. And despite making a leap forward, Americans are often guilty of running back to the comforts of familiarity when we are afraid. My hope is that Barack Obama leads this country to a permanent leap forward, and that 148 years from now Americans will look back and think, what mighty men and women were these who finally realized that color is nothing but a shield of evolution.