I'm a little early with this post as Barack Obama hasn't officially hit 270 Electoral Votes, but his win is all but certain now.
Our first Black President. Wow. That's a big deal. I don't agree with many of his policies, but this is huge. I'm happy for my wife and my children. I hope that if nothing else good comes of his Presidency, it improves their future. That they can look and see this man, biracial, just like them, and be proud. I hope that can look at him and know that anything truly is possible.
I am happy that racism and prejudice didn't decide things. Had McCain won, we'd have always wondered and his win may have done great harm in race relations.
I am happy that so many people got out and voted. I think it's great that so many new people got involved in the process.
Finally, I am glad that it looks like there seem to have been no problems at the polls and that voter fraud seems to be a non factor.
Big night. Glad this is over. :)
rich,
i agree with you on most points. does it improve the future and open the possibilites for minorities. absolutely. but i cant be sure that racism didnt play a factor either. i have a strange feeling that although many voted for mccain because of his skin color, so did people vote for obama. that is unfortunate. but now that the election is behind us, we have a world to reach.
billy
Posted by: billy | November 04, 2008 at 10:50 PM
Bill,
Come on, that is a horrible attitude and ignores both history and reality. There is no comparison between a black person voting for a black candidate because he is black and a white person voting for a white candidate because he is white. If you are honest, you know that. By making statements like you did, you could harm your credibilty in "reaching the world".
Posted by: rich | November 04, 2008 at 11:24 PM
My attitude is not ignoring history or reality. I commend Senator Obama and realize the scope of what has happened today. However, I have seen and have spoken to many people here in Charlotte who voted for Obama just because he was black. How else would you explain that 92% of African American voters voted for Obama, yet many cannot tell the difference between the policies. Am I saying that all black voters who voted for Obama did so simply because he was black. Absolutely not! Likewise not all white voters vote for McCain because he is white. Racism is not a dynamic strictly from whites to blacks but can be the opposite as well. I said that racism played a factor, because it did, and on both sides. I said it is unfortunate, because it is. We should vote for the best candidate, in our opinion, who aligns with our morals and convictions, regardless of skin color. But unfortunately, if you ask many voters they will be unable to really nail down why the voted the way they did. It doesnt help when political commentators make comments like "I just hope that we (blacks) dont see this as our struggle being over". Like I said, many great things have come from tonight. For all intents and purposes, the American dream has been realized. Now we have to pull together and support our president. I will continue to pray for God to bless him and guide his decisions. I am not a sore loser. I recognize history has been made, nights like this make me proud to be an American. Voter turnout was amazing, and Obama's election has the power to unify America. But to ignore that people on both sides have let their biases and prejudices affect this election on both sides would be ridiculous.
Posted by: rich | November 05, 2008 at 12:04 AM
Actually that last post was Bill again, not me. I got him so excited he forgot his name. :)
Anyway, I simply think there is a difference. We can agree to disagree on that.
Posted by: rich | November 05, 2008 at 12:10 AM