A New Hope

Katie D.

January 20, 2009 - 7:55 PM

*Nerd alert* I simply couldn't help that cheesy Star Wars title.

But seriously now. Monday marks a historic change in our nation and in our world. It is a very rare thing that we can fully understand that we are living in a historical moment, that we can mark it down months in advance and plan to be there, schedule parties and get homework done ahead of time. I've been waiting for this political moment since I first came into any kind of political understanding.

Of course I'm talking about President-Elect Barack Obama. Everyone's talking about him. For one reason or another, we've all got opinions and forecasts about what this election will mean. We have ideas about the ending of an era or the beginning of something new, we have plans for change or fears for the future.

First, let me say that I have been a liberal for as long as I've known the difference. Which is to say not very long. I probably couldn't have defined the two camps for you before my junior year of high school. I just didn't get it. It all seemed a little like sports to me, with everyone cheering for some team that didn't really make any difference in their life, but was for some reason worthy of their time, money, and passion. While I still don't understand the sports mania, I have grown in political consciousness. I've come to see that everything in our society can be changed by politics. Whether those politics are a president mandating law and funding or a neighborhood demanding changes from any leader from the school board on up, our lives are run by politics. Our roads, our schools, our health, our opportunities and our economies are all mandated, at least in some part, by politicians. And they are elected by us: they are our representatives, the men and women who make the decisions so that we do not have to.

My decision to become political was fundamentally a religious one. I got into God, in the interpretation of progressive Christianity in my home church of St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and discovered that I had to become political as well. Because it's all about the same thing: it's about taking care of each other. It's about love and support and this radical form of challenging social norms in order to bring people together. And that means that I became both a Democrat and a dissenter in that same few-month period of time that I got into Christianity. During the last few years as I've attended church more or less I have not stopped being informed by the basic tenants of Christianity as I understand them: that we have to care for our neighbors, regardless of who they are. And that's why I am both a liberal and someone who has become dissatisfied by the Democrats, hopeful at receiving political messages and disappointed when I see the results.

I was an active member of the UO College Democrats for two years, including one year as recruitment co-chair. The Democrats are good people. They do good things as much as they can, and at least preach the right messages (usually). In the two elections I've been of-age to participate in I have voted a straight Democratic ticket. I was proud to work for Obama, and voted for him in my first presidential election.

I was impressed by Barack Obama early on. I read The Audacity of Hope before talks of a presidential run began. I had early confidence in his ability to win, in his ability to lead despite his age. Even because of it. And then I went abroad in March and saw what his presidency might mean for the world: the election of someone who was preaching change, who was outside the stereotype of the American president. The people I talked to in South America, from educated host family members to illiterate taxi drivers were excited about Obama. They were inspired by him. And my peers in the US were, too. Not universally, but in grand part. I've been an Obama girl from the very get-go.

That being said, it hasn't been a straight shot for me. I believe that it's time for our country to have a woman as president. It is time and it should happen soon. I also wish that John Edwards had been able to focus the debates more on the issues of poverty and hunger in our world and our society. I have been very disappointed in Obama's treatment of the issues of poverty as well as his take on environmental concerns, especially in regards to "clean coal."

But he's talking the right talk. He's talking health care, he's talking works projects to transfer the country to renewable energy and putting people back to work. He's talking about a downsized New Deal, which is what our country desperately needs.

And he talks compassion and inclusion, which is the best of what our country is capable of.

Obama's election is historic for the demographic shifts in the voting block. It's remarkable for the changes in campaign fund-raising that he caused, and that he did it so effectively. And, as has been remarked upon many times, his election is historic because he will be the first black president.

But really all that has been over-emphasized. His election is most significant to me because it marks a change from the reality of my entire political life to the possibility of something new. We, the people, have the opportunity to enter the political conversation in a new way. We worked to get the man elected; we should have our fair say. And he's talked inclusion. He's talked cooperation. He speaks as a man young enough to be an idealist, someone who believes that the United States has the capacity to be a force for positive change in the world.

As a young idealist, coming of age in a time when the US has, as a nation, largely been a source for war and destabilization in the world as I have seen it, this is a unique moment, a reason to hope. I believe that we are a people of good intentions and of good hearts, who are capable of caring for our neighbors both here and abroad. I believe we can be creative and accepting, that we can see people of all countries and religions as our equals if we try hard enough. But that kind of change goes beyond Discovery Channel specials or high school talks on political correctness. It goes beyond a black man in the White House. It means an end of self-serving wars. It means a change in global positions on international trade and aid. It means dialogue with others and considered, balanced responses to crises. It means an easing of our own self-involvement and a second look at war, free trade, health care, prisons, energy, education, and the military-industrial complex.

I don't know if all of this is even possible in today's world. I can't say if things have gone beyond the point where we can become the global equals of countries as they are, rather than countries as we would change them into being. But I do believe that we are entering a new era, a new opportunity. We could demand changes in this, the beginning of my adulthood, that could mean successive generations can grow up believing that their country is still the good guy, is still the one that cares for the sick, the hungry, the war-damaged and left out.

Tomorrow is the last day President George Bush is in the White House. I'll be celebrating that day. On Tuesday, President-Elect Barack Obama takes office, and life will continue on. I do not expect to see a dramatic or immediate change in the shape of my days. But my expectations of myself will change. And our collective potential will also change: broaden, deepen, demand more and, perhaps, yield true results.

Mr. Obama, good luck on Tuesday. I do not envy you the position. But I do challenge you to listen. We have work to do. The world is watching so we'd better get it right. I'll do my part if you also do yours. You've inherited a world of problems, Mr. President-to-be, but I think you can handle it-I think we'll follow you through these next few years and that these might be a tipping point. Things might change from here.

And you can bet I'll be calling with my opinion.