November 5, 2008

The election of Sen. Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States came as a bang, not a whimper.  The tremors had been perceptible for days, maybe even weeks.  On Tuesday, America experienced nothing less than a political and cultural earthquake.

The margin of victory for the Democratic ticket was clear.  Americans voted in record numbers and with tangible enthusiasm.  By the end of the day, it was clear that Barack Obama would be elected with a majority of the popular vote and a near landslide in the Electoral College.  When President-Elect Obama greeted the throngs of his supporters in Chicago's Grant Park, he basked in the glory of electoral energy.

For many of us, the end of the night brought disappointment.  In this case, the disappointment is compounded by the sense that the issues that did not allow us to support Sen. Obama are matters of life and death -- not just political issues of heated debate.  Furthermore, the margin of victory and sense of a shift in the political landscape point to greater disappointments ahead.  We all knew that so much was at stake.

For others, the night was magical and momentous.  Young and old cried tears of amazement and victory as America elected its first African-American President -- and elected him overwhelmingly.  Just forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, an African-American stood to claim victory as President-Elect of the nation.  As Sen. Obama assured the crowd in Chicago and the watching nation, "We will get there.  We will get there."  No one hearing those words could fail to hear the refrain of plaintive words spoken in Memphis four decades ago.  President-Elect Obama would stand upon the mountaintop that Dr. King had foreseen.

That victory is a hallmark moment in history for all Americans -- not just for those who voted for Sen. Obama.  As a nation, we will never think of ourselves the same way again.  Americans rich and poor, black and white, old and young, will look to an African-American man and know him as President of the United States.  The President.  The only President.  The elected President.  Our President.

Every American should be moved by the sight of young African-Americans who -- for the first time -- now believe that they have a purchase in American democracy.  Old men and old women, grandsons and granddaughters of slaves and slaveholders, will look to an African-American as President.

Regardless of politics, could anyone remain unmoved by the sight of Jesse Jackson crying alone amidst the crowd in Chicago?  This dimension of Election Day transcends politics and touches the heart of the American people.

Yet, the issues and the politics remain.  Given the scale of the Democratic victory, the political landscape will be completely reshaped.  The fight for the dignity and sanctity of unborn human beings has been set back by a great loss, and by the election of a President who has announced his intention to sign the Freedom of Choice Act into law.  The struggle to protect marriage against its destruction by redefinition is now complicated by the election of a President who has declared his aim to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.  On issue after issue, we face a longer, harder, and more protracted struggle than ever before.