Election Reflections

I have slowly been working on this post for a few days (I warn you its long). I haven't been able to sit for any length of time to finish it because Joseph has been a little bit under the weather. Between a mild cold and vaccinations on Tuesday (which he never reacts well to), he's been a bit fussy and clingy the last few days. He hasn't napped well either - I've pretty much had to rock him for most of his naps - so not a lot of spare time to blog.

You will note that there are no pictures of me celebrating the big Obama victory on Tuesday night. There are two reasons for that. First, somewhere between the media calling Ohio for Obama and waiting for the west coast polls to close so the media could officially call the election for Obama, Rich fell asleep. He mumbled something like "I'm gonna go to sleep, wake me up when they call it, I wanna see Obama's speech" and then fell asleep. Second, the celebration was pretty muted. It was not the long drawn out, anxiety filled night that I had experienced in 2000 and 2004. Once Pennsylvania was called right after 8 pm, I relaxed and just waited for the rest of the votes to come in. So it was not the crazy night Rich was looking forward to. When they officially called it around 11 pm, it was no surprise and no jumping on the couch ensued (which was my reaction when Florida was called for Gore in 2000 - which I had to take back an hour later).

I have spent the last few days thinking a lot about this historical election and here are my somewhat jumbled thoughts:

On Obama's Win:

As the mother of an infant, I know the feeling of looking at your child and wondering what he/she will do with their life. Will they be a doctor, a teacher, an artist? Will they be famous and make millions or live a quiet, simple life? No matter what Joseph decides to do, I know that because of his gender, his race, his socio-economic status and the education level of his parents he can strive to do whatever he pleases. The only barriers standing in his way will be those that can be attributed to his own character. I can't imagine being a parent and looking at my child and knowing that no matter what his/her talents are, there are barriers standing in their way simply because of their race or socio-economic status. Certainly electing Barack Obama allows a much larger number of parents to look at their child and have the same hopes and aspirations as I have for mine.

But there is still work to be done. I hope eight years from now we are celebrating the first woman elected President (Hillary NOT Palin!!)so that my future daughter(s) know that they too can achieve the highest political office in the U.S. I can not really at this point imagine the U.S. electing anyone of non-Christian faith. In certain parts of the country, Obama had to spend money just to reassure people he was not Muslim - as if being Muslim would have disqualified him from being President. As someone who describes her religious beliefs as "agnostic plus" (I believe in a benevolent, omnipotent God, but not one of any particular religion), I know if my son should choose to follow my religious beliefs, he could never be elected to political office. Being a Christian seems to be a litmus test for your moral character. Additionally, should Joseph someday come to be and tell me is a homosexual, I am afraid that would be a major barrier to him holding political office in most places (more on this issue later) and that makes me sad.

Certainly Obama's election says a lot for the progress we have made on racial issues, but I do not believe that we are in a post-racial society. I witness racism constantly. It's certainly more covert than overt in today's society, but it exists. I have heard racist comments made by my family and there are racists in Richard's family. I have heard neighbors and co-workers say things I am ashamed of. My resolution from this election is to stop tolerating it. I don't want to hear a racist remark from a friend, a neighbor or family member and just ignore it. I want to speak up and let people know that those comments are not acceptable to me, especially around my child. Maybe in that way I can play a small role in the continual progress we are making on racial issues.

On Michelle Obama:

I have a serious girl crush on this woman. From the minute she hit the spotlight, I admired her intelligence, sophistication and poise. I also feel like I can identify with her. I love Richard and we can be pretty competitive when we want to be, but he's the breadwinner in our family. He is the one in our family with the career success and I have no interest in taking any role in that besides giving advice and listening when he is frustrated. I did pretty well in my career pre-baby, but it was never my thing. I have always known my life would center around my husband, my home and my children. I want to bake cookies, do crafty projects and walk the kids to school. I will never compete with Richard in the corporate world. I have talents to use but I will find my own areas to excel in - volunteer activities and the PTA, most likely. I guess from what I have seen of Michelle Obama - I sort of imagine this is the relationship she had Barack have (this is all pure speculation, obviously).

Michelle is crazy intelligent - Princeton undergrad, Harvard Law, top law firm job (I don't claim to be even close to as intelligent as she is, but I do think I am fairly smart). She has been successful in her career and probably could be as successful as her husband in politics, but when asked what her priorities will be as first lady, she has repeatedly said her main job is "Mom in Chief". I imagine she is proud of her husband's success but jealous in no way. She has her own work to do and doesn't really need a role in his administration to use her talents. I think she will be a very different first lady than Hillary was. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE Hillary - and if a first lady wants that kind of involvement, more power to her! I just can't really relate to the competitiveness that must exist in the Clinton's relationship. I think Michelle Obama is a great example of an intelligent, ambitious woman who still wants her family to be priority #1.

On the passing of the gay marriage propositions:

I noted in my Presidential Endorsement post last week that I am a huge proponent of gay marriage so you can imagine I am pretty disappointed by the fact that all the propositions to ban gay marriage passed. I don't know all the legal ramifications of these propositions passing and am not well versed enough on the intricacies of the issue to give any great legal argument, but I can tell you in general my thoughts on this issue. I truly believe the gay rights is the next major civil rights battle in this country. Two people, no matter what gender, should have the right to share their life together and have the same privileges under the law - the tax benefits of being married, the right to make health decisions for one another, the right to inherit an estate without paying the inheritance tax, etc. I can't imagine how this destroys the sanctity of marriage. I think Britney Spears' 3 day Vegas marriage and a divorce rate north of 50%, has taken care of that already. A constitutional ban on gay marriage being put up to popular vote seems preposterous to me. I have heard so much about the "will of the people" and how Americans don't want gays to marriage. Quite frankly, I DON'T CARE!!! The south didn't want to be integrated either. If we left that up to popular vote, I'd be drinking under a water fountain that says "Whites Only" even now. The government's job is to protect the rights of ALL people, including those on the margins of society and even when most Americans do not agree. I hope that in the next few years legislators step up and pass gay rights legislation even when its unpopular. Hopefully twenty years from now we are talking about how far we have come on the equality issue for homosexuals.

Well that pretty much sums up my thoughts on the election. Its been a crazy ride and I would be lying if I didn't admit I am having a little bit of withdrawal from the non-stop coverage. I am looking forward to inauguration. I wish I could be there. I made it to the 2001 inauguration of bozo the clown...there were so many protests and it didn't have a very friendly feeling. It was also ridiculously cold and they had shut down the subway and we literally walked over an hour from campus to the capitol and then back. I imagine this year's inauguration will be a little more joyful.

The blog can now return to the Joseph-centric website it was before...