His eyes jumped off the page. There was something in the way they held your gaze, even caputred stationary forever on a glossy magazine page. There was something behind them. As I read about Barack Obama in Time last year just as the presidential election was picking up momentum, and I looked at the picture above, I knew I was looking at the next president.
I knew that a Republican could not win office after eight years of the Bush Administration, because the steady back-and-forth in the shift of power between the two major political parties is one of the most obvious patterns in American political history. I knew that if it was to be a Democrat, the nominee would be either a woman or of African American descent, but that an African American would be president before a woman would, following the pattern each were granted suffrage. I knew that the only thing John McCain really had going for him was his war experience. Indeed, in the 1800's, presidents were frequently elected primarily (sometimes solely) on military service--George Washington being most eminent, William Henry Harrison being most blatant (he ran on a log cabin facade, which was entirely untrue, and won)--but that it was still not nearly enough.
Regardless of all that, however, Obama's now-pressing future seemed apparent to me. Here is a boy born to a flower child, S. Ann Soetoro, who struggled through her marriages. Together they traveled the world, living in foreign countries, as she tried to make a difference. Still, somehow, he ended up here once again. He has recounted the experiences he had while staying with his racist, white grandparents (pictured above).
Years later, as he ran, he had to confront a discussion on race that was (and still is) subtlety, but fundamentally different from the conversation taking place even forty years ago with the civil rights movement. Many asked themselves if it was "fair" for Obama to be elected, since it seemed plausible some would vote for him just because he is African American. His campaign had to play it off like there wasn't a race factor, even when there obviously was. It's become so politically incorrect for someone to stand for equality, "to gain advantage" in that way. It amazes me that what was just a few years ago considered a true milestone in American history, the civil rights movement, the eschewing of a facade of equality we had carried so long, is now flipped completely around. Now, even in a time where it has become okay for drug addicts to receive government funded living because they claim to be victims of their addictions, it is unacceptable for a man to stand to claim a victory for his long-subordinated people.
I don't mean to say that Obama should have been elected on race, or that he should stand and rally; I merely find that the irony of the situation speaks to his character. Instead he has stood and addressed the people, seeking to work not along party lines but with us, together as an American people pressing forward. I'm already anxiously awaiting the fruits of that labor, scanning the papers every day for word of his policy and proceedings. Soon enough the State of the Union address will be aired, and more of his intentions will be clear.
I knew it would happen, but I did not, in the end, vote for President Obama. I wondered what that would feel like.
(Photographs all from Time Magazine)
Yes We Can - Will.I.Am with Friends
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