As I was watching CNN pan around the enormous crowd in Chicago looking forward to celebrate the election of Senator Obama, I heard Nate cough slightly in his crib.
I realized then, that should these predictions hold (and it looks pretty certain), that Nate will grow up in an America where the President does not have the same skin color he does. Should President-Elect Obama serve for 8-years, it’s quite probable that Nate will carry this as the image of the first President he ever knew. [1]
That seems pretty significant to me, and I hope this is just one sign of the beginning of a new, less divided America.
Edit (11:33PM):
I just listened to Senator McCain’s concession speech. You know, if he had been speaking in positive gracious terms like that for the last 6 months, this election might have been much closer. I hope he does return to his more centrist roots and provides a rallying point for Republicans to unify with the Democratic majority. I’d love to see the centrists run this country for a change, instead of the flip-flopping polarized politics of the last 12 years.
Edit (5 Nov 7:20AM):
If you didn’t hear the speeches, I’m really sorry you missed them. Here are the transcripts:
- I’m guessing that at the age of 6, the President is not something that sticks in your head. [↩]
November 5th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Your first edit … I said to Joe exactly the same thing. “What a gracious and heartfelt speech. Why weren’t his stump speeches and the overall tenor of his campaign like that?”
My kids both jumped up and down and cheered for about ten minutes when I told them the news this morning. This will be the first president they really remember. Carter’s the first one I can remember.
November 8th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Ditto on the McCain speech comment. I think I twittered something similar during the speech. It was much closer to his tone during the primary, which changed when he started using RNC money.
I think Emma will remember Obama, perhaps Bush…mostly due to the constancy of NPR in our lives.
I have a vague memory of Carter, mostly related to the hostage crisis. Reagan is the first president I really remember.
I am focusing my hope that Emma will see a female president in her lifetime–with an outside chance that I will see one in mine.