My President

An excerpt from an entry from Feb. 2007:

I downloaded the podcast to c-span's "Road to the Whitehouse." It's like MTV Real World except about people who could potentially wield amazing amounts of power. Obama's expected to announce his candidacy tomorrow. Is it weird that I'm going to be metaphorically following the c-span bus in the upcoming year as if Jerry Garcia was on it?

I never wrote the follow-up to watching Barack announce his candidacy for president of the United States. I remember thinking how much I agreed with his message. In clear terms, he denounced the war in Iraq and spoke against petty politics which prevents leaders from coming together to solve big problems.

Looking back, it's amazing the consistency he's shown throughout an arduous campaign from beginning to end, from community organizer to president-elect. He's shown leadership, good humor, good judgment, decency, intellectual curiosity, and even sharp rebuke when the right-wing media (fox news) started going after his family.

I know there are those who don't believe we can do all these things. I understand the skepticism. After all, every four years, candidates from both parties make similar promises, and I expect this year will be no different. All of us running for president will travel around the country offering ten-point plans and making grand speeches; all of us will trumpet those qualities we believe make us uniquely qualified to lead the country. But too many times, after the election is over, and the confetti is swept away, all those promises fade from memory, and the lobbyists and the special interests move in, and people turn away, disappointed as before, left to struggle on their own.

That's why this campaign can't only be about me. It must be about us — it must be about what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your advice — to push us forward when we're doing right, and to let us know when we're not. This campaign has to be about reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.

By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail.
But the life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible.

He tells us that there is power in words.

He tells us that there is power in conviction.

That beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, we are one people.

He tells us that there is power in hope.

As Lincoln organized the forces arrayed against slavery, he was heard to say this: "Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought to battle through."

That is our purpose here today.

That is why I'm in this race.

Not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation.

I want to win that next battle — for justice and opportunity.

And if you will join with me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching before us; if you sense, as I sense, that the time is now to shake off our slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe past and future generations, then I am ready to take up the cause, and march with you, and work with you. Today, together, we can finish the work that needs to be done, and usher in a new birth of freedom on this Earth. Thank you very much everybody — let's get to work.

I know where I'll be on January 20, 2009. It's number (4) and maybe Mandela will be there too.

Perhaps one of the most poignant accolades came from Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s former president, who said in a letter to Mr. Obama: “Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place.”

Memorable moments: Finishing off the bottle of champagne and finding myself an hour later on 125th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem.

The closest experience to that was Korea during the world cup after a win. Old hugging/high-fiving young. Black on white. White on black and all possible permutations in between. Jubilation.

One guy yelling, "Aren't you proud to be black?!? to some people around me and upon seeing me "You too, you voted, right?!!?" Classic moment as we fell into a hug. Jubilation.

Me telling one Hispanic dude, "Si, se puede." And him responding "CLARO. Si, se puede." Jubilation.