I slept a little later this morning because I was up past 11 last night (pretty late for me), to watch the election results. I made it long enough to see Barack Obama be declared President, and off to bed I went. So when my alarm went off this morning I hit snooze four or five times, because, well, I was tired. But then I hear my cell phone chime away, with the text message song, and I just knew who it was.
My sister texted me at 5 am with an [i]Obama! Woo Hoo![/i] message, and indeed it’s I slept a little later this morning because I was up past 11 last night (pretty late for me), to watch the election results. I made it long enough to see Barack Obama be declared President, and off to bed I went. So when my alarm went off this morning I hit snooze four or five times, because, well, I was tired. But then I hear my cell phone chime away, with the text message song, and I just knew who it was.
My sister texted me at 5 am with an [i]Obama! Woo Hoo![/i] message, and indeed it’s been quite a ride. In my lifetime there’s never been an election with so much passion, so much participation. As time goes by and we have the chance to look back I think we’ll better see what this election meant to us as a country, because it’s always so tough to have perspective when you’re in the middle of it.
And so Obama is President.
There’s so much that could be said about it, but I’m suddenly struck by a scene from [i]Bull Durham,[/i] one of my favorite movies. In the scene, young pitcher Nuke Laloosh (Tim Robbins) just struck out the side (or else had an easy inning, I can’t remember), and he’s in the dugout with veteran catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner). Nuke comes to the dugout, all smiles, so proud of himself. Just a peacock strutting himself. And Crash Davis slaps him down immediately.
"Your fastball’s up. Your curveball’s hanging. In the Show (the major leagues), they would’ve ripped you."
Dejected and sulking, Nuke says, "Can’t you just let me enjoy the moment?"
And Crash says: "Moment’s over."
Barack Obama will be our next president. I’m happy about that. I voted for him. But now he’s going to have do a job that will be unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes. It will be difficult. We are in rough waters.
Obama’s moment might not be over yet, but it’s coming soon. Up to this point, all we know is that Obama can run a very good campaign. But the bigger, more important question is: will he turn out to be a good president? Can he peform at the highest level in the highest office? For the good of us all, I hope so.
Now we’ll have to find out.
