We all knew this was going to be big. One of those moments our children’s children will be reading about in history lessons years from now.
And still, I haven’t yet been able to take it all in. I feel like my head hasn’t stopped swarming with images and images of tangled words that I can’t seem to put in the right order. As soon as I feel I’m on the right track to understanding what all this means another thought pops up in my mind and blurs everything else out. Rambling messages, that’s all I see rushing through my mind.
This is probably why I still have that silly widget map posted below. I can’t seem to come up with a coherent post to replace or update it with.
I wish I had that skill the French find so precious: recul. To have recul means to be able to step back and look at the whole picture. I don’t feel like I have any recul right now.
I stayed up all night to watch the elections unfold. We’re between 7 and 9 hours ahead of the US in time zones so the Kansas polls were coming up right around 1am. Except for dozing off and missing Philadelphia be called, I watched patiently as one by one each of those little states turned from grey to blue or red… I had so many different windows open on my computer you would have thought I was one of those traders down at Wall Street that have four sets of keyboards and twice as many screens to keep track of the market. I flipped from channel to channel on France’s national TV trying to find the one with the less dubbed info and the most informed presenters (at one point one French channel actually had the nerve to introduce Joe Biden as “someone you haven’t heard much about but we happily inform you is Barack Obama’s running mate for V.P.”). I bounced from blogs to forums to online live broadcasts to front pages of the major tv networks. I read hundreds of threads of comments on everything and nothing connected to this election. I saw Mariella’s name pop up on my Inbox informing me Obama had won. I saw Minshap’s enthusiastic comment on Fned’s Blog.
And when Virginia was called in the wee hours of the morning I thought of Kumichan and smiled. It wouldn’t be long now.
As many, I found McCain’s conceding speech honourable and admirable. It took me back to everything I knew about the McCain before the elections and made me feel sad for the man. He really would have been a good President. If he had had recul. If he’d seen the bigger picture.
I was hoping I would be able to hear President-elect Obama speak before I conceded to sleepiness and just when my eyes were beginning to droop around 6am Paris time, there he was. I muted the TV, I closed all other windows on my laptop, I popped up CNN’s live broadcast to full size screen on my computer and I scrunched myself up in a comfortable position.
I know people will say it was just a speech. And yes, perhaps they are only words that will soon be forgotten when the reality of what lays ahead fully hits us. But in that instant, in that moment, I believed everything that man said. I felt every word that came out of his mouth. I felt the hope light up inside me like one of those prank birthday candles that refuses to go out no matter how many times you blow at it. I’m not naïve, I know each and every word on that speech was carefully chosen and proof read several times before he walked out on that podium but, my God, how he spoke them!
And during this time one word kept popping up in my mind while listening to him speak: recul. Here was finally a man with recul… he does see the bigger picture. He is conscious of what lays ahead for us. All of us. He sees it. And he is prepared to take on the challenge because he has been able to see beyond the temporary, the apparent, the obvious and has understood that what has happened today has shaped the future no matter what the outcome of his 4 year Presidency is.
Being currently on a desperate search for it myself and knowing how incredibly difficult it is to come upon, I can only begin to grasp what a grand thing it means for America today to finally have at its helm someone who obviously already does possess a great amount of recul.
Fned.
.
11 comments:
I felt sad for McCain after watching his speech as well. He became a puppet for the GOP and played a dirty, dirty campaign and picked someone far from being qualified as VP and that is where he screwed up. I used to have a lot more respect for the man.
VA is blue!!!!!! So amazing... I actually feel like my vote mattered.
It is a glorious day all over the world. I hope Obama lives up to his words.
Amazing post. How are you this eloquent after staying up all night?! I peaced out around 1am our time, before it was official but when it was clear that Obama would win. I watched the speeches this morning. McCain's speech overall was gracious, but it really bugged me when he said it was a proud moment for African Americans. No, it is a proud moment for all of us, for having overcome to some extent the racism that has plagued our country for so long and having been able to see past skin color. I think we should all be equally proud of that, and if McCain (and his speechwriters) can't understand that then that just shows his own ignorance.
On a happier note, Obama's speech was AMAZING. So incredibly inspirational, and I say this as a former Hillary supporter. I felt, for the first time in years, like we're going to be ok. When the crowd starting repeating "yes we can" at the end, it really just showed his power as a speaker. I hope he continues down this same path for the next 8 years.
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida AND Virginia? YES.
It truly was a memorable night! May all the idealism we feel now, continue on!!! Thanks for summing it up so eloquently...
Aunt S :)
You captured the feeling and emotion so well. Even on a gloomy Paris day, I feel a bit of warm sunshine walking through the city, knowing that as Americans we stood together and made this happen.
Also, I totally agree with Emily about that one line in McCain's speech; it stuck a nerve with me and put a damper on the rest of his otherwise eloquent concession.
I still can't stop tearing up...
Amen Fned!!! I am speechless too
Kumichan83,
I really wondered about that! I was going to joke to my few Republican friends, "So....do you think McCain is secretly a Democrat?"
I mean...he had a running shot at winning...much as I dislike the majority of Republican based policy initiatives the past 8 years - I've had the distinct disadvantage of seeing some of the issues I've personally worked on go to the wayside.... - McCain has some characteristics that would have stood him, and the U.S. in good stead.
Note, I said SOME not all....
But then they go and (thank god maybe) pick "I can see Alaska from my front porch" Palin.
Did you read the report that our Brit ambassador in a private convo with McCain reported that McCain said that Palin was harder to shake off than a bulldog. That may be rumour. I've not seen it substantiated. But I would not be surprised that he regrets his choice ...or rather whatever moron picked and pushed for her.
If Senator Clinton put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, Palin probably sealed 10 million with moose glue...
Trés justes tes paroles , BRAVO !!!
It is a glorious, historical,
day !!
It is hard to think straight right now for me too. I feel exactly the same way. Lovely post and I think you captured a lot of how I felt about the speech and the election. It was what everyone has needed to hear for a long time and he is feeding some very hungry ears. WHo cares! We have a *real* president again!! Yay!!!!
Kumichan, Emily & Leilani: it's true that during McCain's speech I did feel a shock reaction when he mentioned how it was a grand day for African-Americans. But I admit this reaction was gone just as quick. Perhaps it was simply because for me, this election was never a question of race but more a question of restoring my faith in America and her ability to acknowledge that things had been going very wrong for the past 8 years and that enough was enough. However, I do know that for a lot of people out there unfortunately this election WAS a question of race, the media did a great job at reminding us of this, and so I guess I took McCain's comment to be an acknowledgment to those people and a call out for unity precisely on this issue in the wake of Obama's presidency. I didn't agree with him, it wasn't ONLY a great day for African-Americans, it was a great day for ALL Americans, but I don't hold it against him either.
As for him falling into the GOP's dirty tricks, that's what's so sad about this. If anyone could have lead a clean and honest campaign on the Republican side, that was McCain. I guess the pressure got too strong and he caved in and a part of me thinks that's what he meant when he said that it was nobody's fault but his that they'd lost. I think he realized this a long time before election-day but by then was already too knee deep in the dirty strategy that had been put into action to turn around. In retrospect, I wonder if his self-depreciatory sketch on SNL was not his way of privately recognizing how utterly low he’d gone and how disgusted with himself he was at the way things had turn out. I guess we’ll never know.
Aunt S, Uncle D and Misplaced Texan: I am so proud of knowing that despite Texas turning out red, San Antonio and Austin showed up Blue on the map… something about it makes me grin... it kindda sounds like Texas might be going “rouge”, don’t ya think? LOL
Kimberly: ehm… can’t check out the link right now (my office’s firewall wont let me)… I’ll get back to you tonight!! Sounds interesting! :-)
Ale: Muchas gracias mujer!
Hélène: Merci beaucoup! C’est vrai qu’on vient de vivre un moment incroyable dans l’histoire. J’ai hâte (et un peu de peur, je l’admets) de découvrir ce qui viendra dans les années à venir.
Misschris : I’m glad I’m not the only one that feels completely overwhelmed and overjoyed by all that has happened. I don’t want to come down from my cloud yet… I hope it still lasts a little longer. :-)
Fned.
Great post Fned. I had set my alarm for 5am, and luckily woke up automatically at 4 :).
@emily: I agree with you. I didn't like McCain reference too, it sounded too much like Bill Clinton saying how Jessie Jackson won GA in the primaries, kinda like a lame excuse.
And now, we hope that our hopes come true :).
I am SO glad that for once I can be proud of our american president publicly speaking and sounding intelligent!! You can't imagine having to endure all the jokes from my italian friends and family about Bush for the past EIGHT YEARS! Finally, an inspiration!
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