(June 4, 2008) Last night I made sure my daughters watched Sen. Barack Obama speak after his historic clinching of the Democratic Party nomination.
Months ago, my 4th grader and I stood in the bitter freezing cold waiting to get in to see Sen. Obama speak in Akron. Her feet were numb. "We should go home," I told her.
"I want to stay. I want to see him," she said.
Even then she understood the history, and it wasn't just because people were saying it. After all, it was a campaign in which either winner would be breaking barriers.
My girls saw him speak plenty of times on TV. They "got" what was going on when cheering crowds felt inspired by Obama's message of hope, unity and working hard to solve problems.
Little did that 4th grader know, but when she said she wanted to stick it out, with frozen feet, for at least a little while longer, for just a chance to see the man whose smile and earnest rhetoric, awakened a dormant joy in people, then I better understood Obama.
His policies differ little from Sen. Clinton, or for that matter the other Democratic candidates. He could be Sen. Joe Biden. Of course, he is more than just policies. He is the antidote to the sick and childish attack ads we -- me, you, our parents, our kids-- see incessantly on television every political season. Before the next generation became drowned in this, along came Obama, not telling us anything new, but telling what we've been saying to ourselves deep inside for years. That public service doesn't have to be character assassination, that Karl Rove is not a genius for exploiting fear, that lying-to-win-then-apologizing later is not the only way to victory.
While my family watched Obama's speech in Minnesota on the night he clinched his nomination, I pointed out to my girls the candidate's graciousness in praising his opponents. Again, most winners can be pretty gracious. Then I realized that while this man of color made history for his political accomplishments, he was more impressive for leading us on the the high road. With all his dignified campaigning, he has shown a coolness and maturity, unwilling to make cheap shots. His team is thoroughly-planned, solvent and victorious -- exactly the person I want answering the phone at 3 a.m. Because I have watched him closely, and I've every reason to believe what he says into the phone at 3am, or 3pm, or in front of the podium or in quiet international diplomacy, will be the strong, focused intelligence that this country needs after the crazy hayride led by drunken, immature cowboys over the past eight years. Say what you want about John McCain being a different kind of Republican, but there's nothing maverick about making your bed with Bush for eight years, then calling the front desk to ask for a different room when it's time to lie down in it.
If I hadn't pointed out to my girls that they were watching history, they've seen enough politics on TV to know that they witnessed something so dignified that so many of us will tough out the cold and await the thaw.
If some said Ronald Reagan evoked morning in America...then this must be spring.
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