Waiting to Exhale

Well folks, I have been MIA from the blogosphere for several weeks now. I've spent some time on a family trip, and doing some stuff at my kid's school. But I have also been trying, in my little way, to help Barack Obama become our next president.

Emails have been sent...friends, neighbors and family have been hassled...phone calls have been made...lawn signs have been put up...money has been donated...letters to local papers have been written...all in the hope that I could add something positive to the support that Obama's been getting here in my home state of Florida. I have been very encouraged by the signs I see around me that, just maybe, the Sunshine State will get it right this time around.

I know that nothing is certain, and as Obama has been repeating over and over during these final days, we can't take anything for granted. So I have been working at it and waiting for November 4th to come, and now that it's here I am in a weird frame of mind.

On the one hand, I feel extremely anxious and unsettled. It's almost like waiting for Christmas morning, only I'm not sure if I'm getting a present or just coal in my stocking. The anticipation is greater than I expected, and I am not sure how agonizing the next 24 hours will be. The wish for time to hurry up hurry up HURRY UP ALREADY is almost overwhelming. And if things don't go Obama's way, the disappointment will be overwhelming too.

But on the other hand, I feel so good knowing that I've been a part of all this. I know many people gave more time, money and effort than I did, so I am not tooting my own horn here. But just like millions of other Americans, I have some personal investment in this presidential race. I gave time and I gave a shit and I am proud to have joined with all those who did the same. I am excited to know that this country may finally be ready to elect an African-American president for the first time in its history, and I am especially happy that it's this particular man.

I was fortunate enough to be in the crowd in Sunrise last Wednesday, when Joe Biden and Barack Oabama came to speak to us here in South Florida. It was the night of Obama's TV infomercial, and at the end there was a moment where the broadcast cut to a live feed from our event. Some of you saw and heard me and my fellow Floridians for a few minutes, cheering and chanting. But it was the stuff you didn't see on TV that made the most impact on me.

I arrived hours before the doors opened that day, and already there were hundreds and hundreds of people waiting to get inside. It was chaotic, hot and crazy out there. But it still made me happy to be a part of it. As we all stood in the sun and tried not to pass out, we talked and shared our thoughts and hopes, we laughed together, we got to know each other a bit, and we even sang and danced a bit. We were all buzzing with an energy that I don't think I've ever felt before. We all had that sense of being lifted by a common purpose. It is one of the most powerful feelings in the world, but one which we tend not to experience much anymore.

We, as a nation, tend to keep ourselves to ourselves more often than not these days. In the past 8 years, the polarization that we have experienced under a devisive administration has torn us into factions. The additional stresses we have undergone - war, economic turmoil, political scandals - have only served to further fuel our bitterness, our fear, our pessimism, and our desire to assign blame, point fingers and draw battle lines in the sand. We became divided and weak, and we have lost a great deal of our standing and our stock value in the eyes of other nations. But most troubling of all, we have grown used to this sorry state of affairs and we have become a nation where 90% of us know we are on the wrong track.

To be in that arena in Sunrise last Wednesday night, you wouldn't have known that to be the case. The stands were packed full of people who, by the end of the night, believed again. We were all ready to move forward and leave the dark clouds of the past 8 years behind us. And it was Barack Obama who lit that spark in us.

As he spoke, and I looked around me at the faces of my fellow Floridians, I saw everyone. Not the sea of white, privileged, angry faces I've seen in news reports from McCain and Palin rallies, but a diverse mix of people who really are America as it is. I was struck by the way all of us had come together that night, and how we had found this common ground. It made me feel the sort of enthusiasm and patriotism I had not felt for years, and it felt good to get that back.

I have always been a proud American. I have always believed that I am damned lucky to live in this country. But I have not seen the glimmer of true greatness in this country's leaders during my lifetime, until now. I don't think he's perfect, or a saint, or anything like that. I know he will not have it easy, and that many of the promises he has made may not come through during the next 4 years.

But I do feel, very strongly, that Barack Obama wants to be a great president. I believe that he wants us all to be great Americans. And I believe he can guide us and serve as a positive example as we strive to reach a better place as individuals, as communities and as a nation. I believe he deserves a chance to be our next president, and I hope he will be.

If you haven't yet voted, VOTE. If you know friends, family members or co-workers who haven't voted, get them to the polls. If you can, help the campaign of your choice to assist and support voters in your community. And if you all do your part, we will have a clear winner by this time tomorrow. Until that moment, I'm waiting to exhale.

Waiting to Exhale

Proud to be a liberal? Why not?

If you’re interested, there’s a great editorial by Bob Herbert in today’s New York Times (click here to read the article). It basically asks, “What’s so wrong with being a liberal?” In this race, McCain and his supporters keep throwing the word “liberal” at Obama and the Democrats like a bomb. But why should this word be used – or accepted – in negative way? The author of the piece points out the contributions made by liberal politicians and social reformers throughout America’s history, and reminds us that calling someone a liberal should be considered a compliment rather than an insult.

I have to take a moment out of my day to thank Bob Herbert for this piece. It is a wonderful gift to all of us who feel like outcasts in a nation we did so much to help build. Seeing the American ideals of tolerance, compassion and generosity for our fellow citizens being ridiculed and demonized by the Republicans has made me both sad and disgusted. But remember, people often attack most vehemently those things which they most fear. The GOP is desperately afraid of losing control in Washington, and they are afraid of the true agents of change from the left who challenge that power. Moreover, the McCain campaign is selling this fear to America, attempting to convince voters that sending a liberal to the White House would be a disaster. Unfortunately, that message is succeeding far too often and with far too many people. It may well be that this fearmongering will win over the majority of voters, and condemn us all to another term of financial instability, low employment, declining health care and education, bitter divisiveness and the further erosion of many of our Constitutionally-supported liberties and protections.

How has the GOP has managed this success? Simple. Since the economy is so troubling to so many of us, the Republican's ultimate success depends on their ability to paint liberals as fiscally irresponsible. So Republicans continue to spread the line about "tax-and-spend liberals" every chance they get. Democrats need to nip that issue in the bud immediately. Perhaps Obama and some of the media pundits can start using the phrase "borrow-and-spend conservatives", so it can be pointed out that, despite the tax cuts that George Bush (and John McCain) support, government spending has been rampant and reckless over the past 8 years. Republicans are using smoke and mirrors to trick voters into thinking that liberals will, somehow, make more of an economic mess than the GOP has under George Bush.

Yes, there are programs and issues that will require funding. Obama and the Democrats are not denying that fact. But, unlike conservatives, who contend that it makes more sense to borrow money and rack up trillions of dollars in debt to nations like China, liberals have this crazy idea that Americans should be asked to look out for themselves, rather than being beholden to foreign interests, and to contribute toward the nation's well-being in a manner proportional to their ability to do so.

Nobody likes paying taxes, but how can McCain or any conservative keep a straight face while defending the effectiveness of their tax cuts? How can you look an economically ravaged American public in the eye and attack a liberal plan that would ask for more from the uppermost level of income earners so that 95% of Americans could receive a tax break? It truly defies logic, yet the "tax-and-spend" label still causes many voters to panic simply because it's the alarm call used so often by the right. Obama, his supporters and the media need to re-educate the public so they can see that there's spending on both sides, but only one side is being honest about the most fair and sensible way to pay for it. "Borrow-and-spend conservatives" have been killing our economy for eight years. instead of being embarrassed when someone call us liberals, it's time to be proud, and it's time to fight back.

Proud to be a liberal? Why not?