I'm very excited about President-Elect Obama! More so than I've let on in this space. He's the most exciting Democrat in my lifetime, and while I fully expect him to be a solid and respectable president who will do a lot to move our country in the direction it needs to go, his ceiling is much higher than that. My hope (there's that word again) is that he's a transcendent, transforming president, doing more for this country than any elected official since FDR or any individual since MLK. It's incredible to me that, for at least a couple of days this week, I can ride public transportation or sit in a polling place in an area where I'm one of the only non-Black people around, and look at the folks around me and have them look at me and see that we're really, truly equal. It's an illusion, of course; we still have a ways to go. But right now, just for a bit, it's lovely how easy it is for everyone to forget that.
(The Onion weighs in.)
And yet, my excitement is tempered. That's who I am. This was not a historic election turnout-wise. The Democrats are a long shot at best to hold the Republicans to 40 Senate seats. And the worst of all, California took a huge step backwards in civil rights. I'm shocked that Prop 8 probably passed, and I'm upset with myself, even having donated more than I ever have to a political campaign, that I didn't do more. As
And it's about time for me to send more money to the ACLU.
Hopefully I'll have a report of the most thrilling week of my life coming soon...