Election

It will be unsurprising to our readers that we were hoping that Barack Obama would prevail in the American election and it was gratifying, after watching the returns with dismay in 2000 and 2004, to see the numbers coming in as the polls closed. To see Pennsylvania and Ohio recorded as blue on the news coverage so early in the evening was so exciting.


We could see on the CBC that there were groups of Americans and Canadians celebrating in pubs downtown and we wished we could be with them. Unfortunately, Sarah was really sick with a kidney infection and we weren't going to be going anywhere that evening. So, Mike went to the BC liquor store and bought a six pack of beer and some crisps from the marked across the street, and we had a small celebration at home ... weeping a bit as we watched the acceptance speech and the jublilation of the crowds in Chicago and all over the country and around the world.


Having lived overseas for a couple of years, I can say that even those with a conservative ideological tilt were befuddled and could not understand how George Bush remained president in the states for two terms. They felt that Americans were uneducated, or incurious, or racist or SOMETHING - how else to explain the support for somebody so ideologically extreme and intellectually incurious? To have as the leader of the free world somebody who disdained any discourse or discussion of difficult and divisive issues was incomprehensible. This election has me feeling that Americans have been redeemed in the eyes of the world (and I do think that this is important - that we are, and should be, increasingly part of a global community) and that in rejecting racism, hate speech, and negativity, we have affirmed our best values and maybe turned a corner.


I know that there are some who believe that the positive response around the world to this election may be because other nations think that we will be weaker and easier to push around. I don't think this is the case. Despite everything, the perception of the American people has not seemed to me to be all that negative - the Bush administration was seen as highly problematic and there seemed to be puzzlement how such a good people could accept and support that government. I think this election has re-affirmed the belief of people around the world that the people of the US actually do believe in justice and fairness and equality and all of the other values that we like to consider as characteristic of the American ethic.


Happy days! - I hope President Obama's intellect and steady temperament prove sufficient as the US navigates the rough seas that I fear lie before us.


Love,
Margo