Democracy

My father passed away 12 years ago Sunday. He would have loved this election. He would have hated the work of the Bush administration. And he would have loved how American this election cycle has been.

Barack Obama's candidacy has brought out the best in us--and the worst in some ways. On the whole, this campaign season has been a great debate of worldviews, the policies that reflect them, and what it means to be American. Sure, there have been many, many terrible things said by people I would have thought were smarter or more committed to fairness. When George Will renounces his party's behavior, you know Republicans are in serious trouble.

The past eight years of Republican rule have greatly damaged this country. They've managed to bungle the economy, invade the wrong country, lose the respect and support of the rest of the world, eviscerate the Constitution, dismantle environmental regulations that protected people, weaken regulatory bodies like the SEC, FCC, FDA, and others to make it easier for corporations to unfairly compete and avoid responsibility for their behaviors.

Turnout will be heavy today. Obama's campaign has inspired so many people who typically would have stayed on the sidelines. And people are fed up. They've had enough. So they've turned off their TVs and headed down to the local Obama campaign HQ and signed up. And walked. And talked. Knocked on doors. Called people they don't know. Made lots of friends with other people who are fed up. Worked hard to change the country.

Many of my Republican friends are campaigning for Obama. Some can't believe that anyone would vote for McCain-Palin, and were insulted by McCain's choice of her for VP.

Obama vs McCain is the difference between intelligence and not. Inspiration and not. Leadership and not. Fealty to fairness and not. We have serious problems in this country, and McCain's response was to point fingers at Obama and add the dismally caustic Palin to the ticket. We need serious leadership. I want the smartest guy in the room, not the guy who finished 5th from the bottom of his class and professes no understanding of the economy yet feels compelled to call Obama a socialist.

Obama is significantly liberal compared with moderate Republicans; accusations of Obama as liberal socialist come from the far-right, the extremists, not the intellectual right or the sensible moderates. I'm more liberal than Obama, and I'm a capitalist. A free-range, grass-fed beef-eating Democratic-libertarian liberal capitalist.

The smartest guy in the room also brings the smartest group of people to the White House since 1993. The Bush administration will be famous for its hiring of incompetents and sycophants, rather than hiring the best and the brightest. Obama's administration will be famous for bringing the smartest, most dedicated Americans to Washington, regardless of party.

And I think this new era will not be adequately defined as post-racist America. I'd rather see it defined as something more positive, without reference to the bigots that have held back this country and threatened those who bring sincere commitment to the optimistic vision of America the melting pot of opportunity.

This election is a repudiation of the hateful, negative, regressive voices of the far right. Your fifteen minutes are up. We're tired of it. And today's landslide will slam the door shut on you.

I will not miss Dick Cheney. Or McCain, or Palin, or Bush, or the blathering right-wing. I will not miss those who justify undermining the Constitution for any reason, much less the power grabs of the past 8 years.

And yes, I'm thrilled to have the first black president. I smile ear to ear thinking about it. In an age where the KKK is regaining strength, Americans are sending an African American to the Oval Office. Bigots will be bigots--we'll always have them. But you can no longer prevent the country from evolving to a more just, compassionate, optimistic place. You've stood in the way of democracy, justice, and fairness, and you've been swept aside.

And you're welcome to join in the fun and help the country get to that more perfect place, where all people are treated equally under the law, where we celebrate and promote the good in people. Where the country that has so much capacity to do good in the world finally starts to do so. We need you too.

The problems are significant. It will take between 5 to 10 years for Americans and American businesses to work through the debt. It will take several years to get out of Iraq. The 11 or 12 trillion in national debt Bush leaves us with will not go away without sacrifice. But we've got the smartest people in the country about to take on these problems, and I'm confident they'll do a great job. But they'll need help.

After seeing this amazing campaign up close (the Lancaster Obama HQ is on the first floor of my office), after seeing the hundreds of people from out of state to help spread the word, and after seeing couch potatoes become community organizers and activists all because of Obama, I'm certain we'll have the help we need. It's a happy day.