A Hopeful Beginning

It has now become apparent the irony of my last post's title.

I'm sitting here in my apartment's living room, listening to CNN replay Barack Obama's acceptance speech. America has reached a period of transition. As one president of the United States prepares to leave office, the new President Elect prepares to move his black family into the White House. As a Canadian observer, I feel the need to note a few things, so that one day we can look back and remember this day. Our feelings, our hopes, our fears.

I was very nervous leading up to this day. I've been watching and admiring Barack Obama for about a year and a half now. I remember first seeing him on "The Daily Show", as some throwaway additional Presidental Candidate. As I got to know some of them better, I started to pick out my favorites. Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama. These guys seemed to talk straighter than most other politicians. They represented something to me. As the race narrowed to a few candidates, I clearly chose Barack Obama as my favorite. He was the dark horse, quite literally, and I was excited to witness history in the making. I was hopeful that America could finally, at least symbolically, move past a terrible past that has haunted them. Yet I was still afraid. Of an assassination attempt, of the "Bradley Effect", of a man that seemed too good to be true.

This is something that has astounded me. That a man, black or white, who promises to speak to Americans as though they are adults is something that is too good to be true. How far have our hopes and expectations fallen (and I definitely include Canadians within this) that the idea of an honest man causes us to recoil in fear. What deep secret might he be hiding? Is it that he will be tolerate of homosexuals? Dare he allow his faith to influence his moral, but not political decisions? Will he be the acclimation of all our hopes?

One thing I do know for sure is that Obama will dissapoint some of us. He will either be too liberal or too conservative. He will be too cautious, or too rash. He will be too open, or too closed. He will not satisfy us all. But he has promised to explain the reasons behind his actions, and that is something that none of us have had for far too long.

If nothing else, Barack Obama promises hope. At this point, none of us know whether or not he can deliver. Regardless, this shows us that the American people are not who the Bush administration have portrayed them to be. Perhaps they too are a little more honest, a little more tolerant, and a little more hopeful than we give them credit for. I witnessed history today, and I pray that I will continue to witness history for the next four years.