Election ruminations

For the first time in my life, I've voted for a winning presidential candidate. Not only did I vote for the winning candidate, everything and everyone I voted for won. Even though I'm completely ecstatic, I feel a little nervous, because if things go wrong, it'll be partially my fault. That's a sobering thought, and one I've never really had to deal with.

Even so, I feel a great joy that I hope even people who voted for McCain or someone else can feel some measure of. About electing a black president, my Memere said it best: "I can't believe I lived long enough to see that!" What I really feel proud about is that he wasn't voted in because he's black; in fact, his multiethnic background was a source of fear for many (uninformed, I believe) people. He was elected because he spread a message of positivity in a time when a lot of the US was disillusioned. The most encouraging news, to me, was the response of the rest of the world: this Amanpour article talks about the renewed hopes for peace and cooperation that are quickly spreading across the world. I can remember being in England in 2002 and constantly being treated with disdain simply because I came from the country where Bush was president (I kept reminding people--more than half of us voted for Gore), and that was even before the invasion of Iraq. Willingness for international cooperation on the part of the rest of the world alone is worth the price we might pay because of Obama's lack of experience.

Hopefully--and it seems like he will--Obama will make good on his promises of bipartisanship and re-unify the country. Many McCain supporters have valid concerns and hopefully Obama and his adminstration will find ways to address those. Even if he does, I believe in the capacity of some Americans to make life infinitely more difficult for themselves through fear and ignorance. The Secret Service must absolutely be wetting themselves thinking of the task ahead, considering there's already been an assassination plan foiled. Here's hoping for a quiet four years for them.

Even though I'd really hoped we'd be welcoming the first female president right now, I feel really happy about Obama's election. I feel even more happy to live in Massachusetts, a state where my ideals line up so nicely with most other people's. It reinforces my reluctance to move elsewhere (even California--boo on Prop 8!).