Oooh, Look! An Exit Ramp!

Taking a little side journey today, away from the teaching stuff for a bit and into the world of politics. I went into the election yesterday completely ambivalent. I have never been a fan of John McCain and I couldn't bring myself to vote for him. While not as personally turned off by Barack Obama, I don't trust the Democrats to have full power in the country so I didn't feel I could vote for him. For the first time in my life (dating back to my first vote--Reagan in 84) I went into the polling place not knowing the candidate I would select once in the voting booth. So, with misgivings about each of the two major party candidates, I placed a protest, third-party vote. Let's just say, my guy did not win. Still, I walked out at peace, knowing that I had not betrayed my conscience in this election.

I heard pundits declaring last night that the election of Obama sent a strong signal about how far we have come in the area of race relations in the United States. I wish I could agree with them. The fact is that there is one African-American governor in the country, and as of January 20th, no African-American senators. While these are not the only measures, I think it is a valid opinion to believe that this is an anomaly until proven otherwise. As a long-time conservative, it has long been my hope that the Republicans would put forward a strong African-American candidate but after watching the politics of fear and hate play out during this campaign season (first, he is not a Muslim and for those of you who would demean his heritage, yes he is Black), I don't see that happening any time soon. I thought it was heartening that people of color and young people finally had a candidate around whom they could rally (even if I don't agree with his politics) and perhaps it will engender hope for those who follow that anything is possible for them, but I think we have a long way to go before racial thoughts are placed on the back burner and people are judged for the content of their character and not the color of their skin.

I mentioned hope in the last paragraph and I think this is the most significant theme when seeking election as President of the United States. I can go back to Reagan and state with pretty solid certainty that the most consistent factor in the election of every candidate who ran on his own merits (I disregard Bush 41, as he was elected in 88 on Reagan's coattails and when he ran on his own in 92 was defeated) is principled optimism. Again, laying aside the divergent political leanings, Americans elect candidates who give them legitimate reason to hope: Reagan, Clinton, Bush 43, and now Obama. Republicans lose when they put up cranky old men like Bob Dole and John McCain and Democrats lose when they put up loony alarmists like Michael Dukakis, Al Gore and John Kerry. Wake up people, this is a communication issue and not so much a political one.

Finally, to go back to a point I have been making for months now: This election reminds me a great deal of 1992. In 92, Bush 41 had such high approval ratings that no Democrat with any realistic hope of ever being elected to the "highest office in the land" would even consider putting his/her name in the hat. Thus, when Bush's numbers started to plummet and the Dems realized that Clinton was their nominee, the general reaction seemed to be, "What in the world have we done?" They lucked out when Clinton remade himself into a viable candidate and President. This time, the Repubs looked at Bush 43's approval numbers and the strongest candidates chose to sit this one out. So, they start pushing McCain--the next old white guy in line--to the front and then, mid-summer it becomes apparent that with a strong candidate on the Repub side this would be a winnable election. Except...they had John McCain. Remember him? Keating 5 to righteous judge. Infringement on constitutional rights in the form of campaign finance "reform". Angry, seething, maverick who managed to try to pander to just about everybody during this career in the Senate and as a national candidate. Yeah, that McCain. He couldn't pull off a Clinton and now he fades into the sunset.

So, to close this one up, here is my wish list: First, I hope Barack Obama is a fantastic President and that he is able to bring sides together and lend some healing to the ugliness that divides our country. Second, I hope he is able to say no to the leftist fringe in Congress (Pelosi, Reid and their political kin) and govern in a way that says, "Yes we can." Last, I hope that in the next four or eight years, I continue to discover the untold joy of being a citizen of the Kingdom of God and get so lost in living out that Kingdom that in future elections I am untouchable. Politics won't define me any more.