Spring Break
A house divided, quiet cannot stand
Jamie Thomson
Issue date: 11/7/08 Section: Ed-Op
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And, over two centuries after our nation was founded on freedom and equality, finally we have a black president. As a middle-class white girl from suburban Lancaster County, I can never truly grasp what African-Americans have endured throughout history; but on the night of Nov. 4, I shared in a most intense sense of joy as so many of my neighbors of all colors cried out and honked their horns in celebration on the streets of West Philadelphia, their hope in America restored. Though far fewer people marched on City Hall, this was a much greater victory than the Phillies' World Series win - the triumph of an entire race, hard-fought for generations.
And race aside, there is even more to this achievement. By now it sounds cliché, but this race truly was about change - a change in the American attitude, toward itself and the rest of the world, demanded by the masses after too many years of the same old politics.
Obama's success was a genuine product of the people, as he acknowledged in his speech at Chicago's Grant Park: "Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines, and the living rooms of Concord, and the front porches of Charleston."
While there was undoubtedly an overarching strategy and sophisticated planning on the part of the campaign, the grassroots efforts of young and old across the nation are what carried Obama to victory - registering thousands of new voters and making every endeavor to get family and friends, co-workers and neighbors, even absolute strangers out to the polls to vote for change. Against such a spirited movement, McCain never had a chance.
Don't get me wrong, I have great respect for John McCain. I may have even voted for him four or eight years ago. But as tends to happen in a tense political contest, I think "the real McCain" was lost along the way. He originally made a name for himself as a reformer, but over the past few months "maverick" became just a buzzword and his infamous "straight talk" was mired in neo-conservative doubletalk. Bitter party politics sometimes gets the best of even the best of us.
In his concession speech, I think the real McCain returned. Despite the expected melancholy of defeat in what is surely the most difficult speech of any politician's career, he urged his supporters to "[offer] our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences…Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that."
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