Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
I am, by definition, an optimist. That being said, I find the challenges that lie ahead of me and other Republicans, Conservatives and general non-believers in President-elect Obama’s mantra of “Yes We Can” to be a little overwhelming. However, something odd occurred on Wednesday morning. I awoke with a sense of hope.
I am sure there are many along the party lines who would say once you go down that road, you are sure to drink the political Kool-Aid. I imagine myself in some line somewhere, waiting for my weekly check as someone shouts, “There he is!” Suddenly, the rock star known as Obama hovers over us, spreading joy. And by joy, I mean a number of large bills taken directly from rich people’s irritatingly hard-earned bank accounts. This is how one would “spread the wealth.” All misguided tangents aside, I think the fundament of what Barack Obama stands for is true.
At least I hope it is. There was no real question in my mind that Sen. John McCain had an uphill battle. I may not have ever really been convinced he could have pulled it off. But on election night, I saw why I wanted McCain as my President: his grace. The will of a man in his 72nd year can easily be called into question simply by saying he is somehow “losing his bearings.” Nonetheless, that will ought to invoke a sense of respect and even nostalgia. During the concession speech, he made clear that the fault of the campaign was his. He took sole responsibility while the media spoke in hushed tones about the fault lying with Gov. Sarah Palin. Incidentally, when he mentioned his opponent’s name, he followed by asking the crowd not to boo, lending himself to the idea of good sportsmanship. In his own way, he asked us to be American and patriotic in the most respectable of ways. John McCain asked us to gracefully accept his defeat.
He told us something I think most of us found surprising – he said Obama would be his president. Some would indignantly say, “You’re damned right he will!” But do I need to remind a forgetful nation how many Hollywood celebrities and local nobodies said either George W. Bush wasn’t their president, or that if elected they would leave the country? Well, truth be told, those people lied about that. I even offered to purchase a few one-way tickets.
I can find my optimism in the fact that Barack Obama will move the country in a “different” direction, even though “different” remains neutral on the scale of good and bad. Where I find my hope is that I dare to believe he could do something great for this country. Maybe he can pull it off and offer us more than just moving speeches and contrived stories of hope. The proof in the pudding will be in the eating, and in four years that will be some mighty fine pudding – regardless of the flavor. Until then, I will watch, I will hope and I will allow myself to believe that even though I didn’t see my candidate elected, we are all ready for something inherently great. I hope I will find this in my President-elect, Barack Obama
Brian Curry is a senior forestry and environmental science student.
Bangor Daily News