Obama Wins!

I remember watching the first democratic debate when all the candidates were just feeling out their own campaigns. I had heard of Barack Obama because of his "rising star" status, and also because of his Kenyan roots. I don't normally watch debates, in fact I usually hate politics. It always seems like politicians are merely saying the same old thing, trying their best to appease the electorate based on the latest polls. As I tuned in that night, I saw something different. There was a guy up there on that stage that was actually saying some pretty smart things. It almost seemed as if he was saying all the stuff that I thought, albeit more eloquently. I was puzzled by the uniqueness of Obama, and began to listen more intently as he spoke. This was the first debate I had ever watched that I didn't turn off after 10 minutes because it made me sick.

Although there was a lot he said that night that got me excited, there was one thing in particular that stuck with me. It was the subject of foreign policy. Obama's idea was to actually talk to our enemies and see if we can work things out before we go ahead and bomb them. Its easy for Americans to believe that all Muslims are terrorists, all people from the Middle East hate us. But is this really true? What if we actually talked to these people, and not only talked, but listened. Maybe we could work something out that didn't involve a massive loss of human life. In all honesty, America has been screwing up their countries for decades. No wonder they might be a touch upset.

I've spent a good chunk of the Bush presidency overseas - 2003-2005 Peace Corps Kenya, Fall 2006 - Spring 2007 International MBA India, Summer of 2007 Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand - and now Rwanda. During these years, I've watched the image of America overseas plummet. I've always been proud to be an American, but during the last few years, that pride began to diminish - and be replaced by a hopelessness of not only my country, but of humanity in general. How could these things be happening in America? Did people seriously want this? Was everyone stupid? (Like I said, Obama speaks more eloquently than me)

My first reaction during these years was anger at those who would curse my country. I couldn't fathom that we could be doing the wrong thing, or that George Bush could be that wrong, that evil. But, as the years went on and I read more and generally became more informed, I became more and more hopeless for our future. I began to realize that maybe we were actually screwing up. The War on Terror is a mess. Every time we kill a terrorist, 5 more take his place. Why aren't we investing in alternative energy? How is the insane religious right ruling my country? Who cares if homosexuals get married? Why didn't we sign the Kyoto protocol? Global warming is real! Why do we spend $9,000 to educate a child and $55,000 to incarcerate an adult?

Needless to say, I've become a bit salty. Then I saw Barack. This guy seemed to be saying all the right things.

I started watching CNN and listening to NPR (both liberal as heck, I know) a lot more after that first debate. And when I tuned in for the 2nd debate, I was actively cheering for him. It started becoming clear that it was going to be Clinton vs. Obama. A weird feeling came over me. Hope. I know, its corny as that's the damn tag line for his campaign...but. Whats wrong with hope? We are America after all, can't we fix this?

I knew Clinton would be hard to beat. She seemed to be much more in control of "the machine," than Obama. She knew how to play the game and had more money. Plus, I never root for winners. I'm from Philadelphia after all. What a strange year this has been...

Then Obama won Iowa. Holy crap. Clinton, the huge favorite and front runner was all of a sudden back on her heels. She soon rebounded when she shed a robotic tear (guarantee some staffer came up with the idea) to win New Hampshire.

It was going to be close and Super Tuesday was going to be huge. Barack killed it and took the lead. In the ensuing primaries over the next few weeks, he continued to win state after state. I couldn't understand it. It was around this time I found an Obama sign and jammed it into my front lawn. I was the first in my neighborhood. Texas and Ohio were coming up and Clinton won both. Pennsylvania, which didn't hold their primaries until late April, was actually going to matter. Then that jackass Rendell said that "race would be a factor for 5-10% of Pennsylvanians." This brought back all the old fears of the political machine in America for me. Clinton, that scumbag, certainly didn't shy away from the fact that she was white and Obama was black. PA came and went and Clinton took it by a narrow margin, despite me getting in fights at bars as well as fights on my front lawn about it.

Luckily neither fight came to blows, but they were heated nonetheless. The lunatic ex-husband of my neighbor charged up my lawn one day blathering about abortion and how Obama was a terrorist and would vote pro choice. He told me I was a bad Catholic and wouldn't be allowed to receive communion. All this while cursing at me. Real Christian of you, sir. It was hilarious, but I got a touch upset thinking of all the other morons out there who thought this way.

Barack had pretty much locked up the nomination. It was at this time that I left for Rwanda. I remember watching the DNC convention speech while I was in Butare during my first week here. I was pretty fired up and felt good about it.

So the campaign progressed. People played politics back and forth. Obama had a pretty comfortable lead. Then McCain (sellout) named Palin as his VP at the Republican convention. The woman who had been keeping her eye on Russia in case Putin reared his head, thought Africa was a country, couldn't name a newspaper she read, couldn't name a supreme court decision, and didn't know what the Bush Doctrine was - was possibly a heartbeat away from being President. I don't generally listen to celebrities when they speak politics, but Matt Damon said it pretty well - "It's like a bad Disney movie - 'The Hockey Mom That Goes to The White House.' "

McCain-Palin started storming up the polls, almost coming even with Obama-Biden. Then 2 things happened. The economy crashed, and Palin gave the Couric interview. So long, suckas. Obama regained a commanding lead and started going after red states. He was actually going out into the rural areas. Sure, he was going after votes, but with such a commanding lead, it seemed like he was also preparing rural people who might not have voted for him for him to be their President. Maybe show them, "Hey, this guy isn't that bad."

I returned from my World Series trip on Sunday November 2, worked for 2 days and it was November 4. Game time. Rwanda is 7 hours ahead of EST, so the earliest states weren't closing until 2 AM on November 5. There was an all night party at a local bar/restaurant. I slept after work for about 6 hours, woke up and got to the bar just before 2. It looked scary for about the first 15 minutes - but I was still high from the Phillies and somehow knew Obama would win. This feeling of being a winner was new to me, but I was relishing in it.

The restaurant was quiet. People were nervous. I really don't think there was anyone there who was for McCain. I base that on the look of the crowd, but also because generally people that I meet overseas are Democrats (except military people) - or at least they hate Bush. The crowd was filled with Rwandans, Americans and ex-pats of every nation. All these people who weren't from America had decided to stay up all night with us to root for Change.

People were too quiet. I had just come back from the biggest celebration I'd ever witnessed in the Phillies Championship & parade. I started clapping loud and yelling when state - even county - results came in. Trying to get people fired up. It started to work. When PA came back for Obama, the place went nuts. I knew it was over. Soon they called Florida and Ohio.

When CNN called the race for Obama and called him president elect for the first time, the place went nuts. Cigars were lit as the sun rose over the Western hills of Kigali. We high-fived and hugged each other - about the 5th time in a week I was doing this. We all did tequila shots at 6 AM as we listened to McCain's concession speech followed by Obama's acceptance speech.

You could hear noise all over Kigali - horns honking, people cheering. As we walked home from the bar that morning, everyone was smiling. Taxi drivers, guards, people on their way to work. The high-fives continued all morning. It was amazing to see so many people care about our election, but I guess that's reflective of the sway America has in the world, the hatred of George Bush, and the absolute love for and hope of this guy Barack Obama.

I found out the next day that Kenya had declared November 6 a National Holiday. November 5 ended up becoming a holiday in Rwanda - at least for ex-pats - as no one went to work that day.

The next day on my way to work, I asked my taxi driver (huge Obama fan) why Rwandans and Africans were so excited about Obama. After all, he was the President of the United States, not the world. He told me that most of the uneducated Africans might think that it would be easier to get a Green Card now. Also, some of them might be happy that a fellow African had won the highest seat in the world. But he then told me the reason why most people throughout the world wanted him to win. And it was many of the same reasons why I wanted Obama to win. People thought that maybe this Obama guy could actually do some good in the world. He had just become leader of the most powerful and influential society ever to exist on our planet. America is still America. We have the power to do enormous things - good or bad - throughout the world affecting billions of people. And now, we had a true leader at the helm. It gave him hope for the world, America and humanity. Democracy is almost a direct reflection of human ideas. And we had all got together and done something good. Maybe there's hope for us yet.

Barack Obama is an extremely eloquent speaker. His messages of hope and change are easy to become enamored with - especially the way things have gone in the last few years. So are we all suckers? Did we all get caught up in the hype and lose sight of reality? Or is it time to change reality? It is certainly important to temper our excitement with the problems of today's world. But isn't it nice to have that guy making the decisions?