Member since:
August 22, 2007

Obama's Million Dollar Moments...

October 29, 2008 11:01 PM EDT (Updated: October 29, 2008 11:25 PM EDT)

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My darling daughter called just before Obama's half hour infomercial.

"I hope he says everything right..." she almost whispered as her voice trailed off.

"Of course, he will," I reassured her. How could I admit I was thinking exactly the same thing?

Our collective psyches have been battered over and over again by the press and their insistence on the possibility of a 'last minute gaffe'. Senator Obama has been consistent, calm, stately, disciplined and solid throughout his campaign. The right has nothing left to throw at him that he cannot easily throw back. The man's a true leader with a pure and compassionate vision and he has the talent to implement it, but still we fret.

Democrats, independents, green party guys, libertarians and thinking republicans have actually joined together in an awkward if sincere coalition to support the Obama movement. We hope he will be the next president of the United States but only a gambler picks a winner before the end of the race. Or a lazy S.O.B. who thinks they did enough already. (Hope that's not you.)

Stuff can happen. It can be about words that get be twisted and taken out of context by an opponent, so of course I still worry. Certainly I have an amazing ability to put both feet into my mouth at the same time, so why wouldn't I think it is possible for my candidate to do the same.

Armed with my pretzels and wine I sat on the couch and clutched my dog. I wanted his last big 30 minute million dollar pitch to move all those people who had not yet voted. When the video piece opened with what I assumed were beautiful Kansas wheat fields, I sighed with anxiety. Symbolism is important, I told myself. He wants to remind everybody that he is an American, proud to have been born and bred here.

I didn't cry until he got to the part about his mother dying young. (My father did.) I had heard the part about his character being formed more by his father's absence than his presence. How sad that he met his father for one month out of his lifetime, but I knew that about him in intimate detail as I had already read his books.

Okay, so maybe my throat constricted when I saw the older, retired couple with the 72 year old husband who had to go back to work because his sick wife did not have medical insurance. Their house had been paid off when he retired, but they could not afford to keep up with inflation and the 10 medicines she takes every day. I think medical care for all citizens should be a right, not a privilege. It is inhumane to think otherwise.

When Obama introduced us to the widow who is a teacher but still has to work a second job, I thought, we all know that is a bunch of crap. Why are our teachers living on the edge? Why are any of us? This is a rich country. It used to be that the middle class could plan ahead, afford vacations, a second home on the lake and a new car every few years. One income families could send their kids to college and moms could stay home and care for children or aged parents. As Obama pointed out, a waitress should be able to stay home from work to care for a sick child without fear of losing her job. All of us should have that right. It is only human to want to do so.

Obama understands working families. The employment conditions make it impossible for even a two-working person family to comfortably survive. Gone are the days of extended family for most of us, either because our families are smaller or because our families are scattered across the country. I don't have a safety net anymore, and I don't see my friends with one either. We used to feel well off. Was it the Bush years that stole our comfortable futures from us or did they just finish us off?

Jobs? Obama's plan will change things. It will reward the companies that create jobs right here and eliminate the tax breaks that encourage corporations to move jobs overseas. I remember when it was just manufacturing that was involved. My neighbor was the only person I knew who worked in a factory and he wanted to retire. It seemed like it didn't affect me, know what I mean? Then I realized that the customer service person answering my technology question was in India, and a few days later my friend's daughter lost her job because her company contracted with an Asian country.

As they warned after World War II, first it was 'just the Jews...'

When Obama talked about hard-working American parents who thought, "I may not have gone to college, but if I work hard my children will..." That one really got me for a lot of personal reasons. Mostly I worry how our daughter will afford to send our little granddaughter to college. In thirteen years, the cost could be astronomical. I always assumed we would help her, but now I have to ask, what if we can't?

Why did we let the fox in the chicken house... or should I say the White House? As Obama said tonight, the economic crash we have experienced in the past month is the final verdict on eight years of failed policies. He does not claim to be a perfect man or that he will be a perfect president. He does promise to always tell us the truth, what he is thinking, how he plans to get us back on track and to be honest with us about the challenges we face in this country.

He knows the corporations, wall street, big banks, insurance companies and the lobbyists are not going down easily and will have to be forced to play honestly and fairly through the will of the people and our representatives. His presidency must be seen as a mandate or these power-brokers will do everything possible to impede and obstruct progress.

Obama is calling on each and every one of us to do our part. Just as we all supported his campaign with donations and time, I now call on us to vote the democratic ticket all the way down the ballot. We need the power and we need the majority or our country will face this same fight in 2012.

Obama has endured almost two years of hard campaigning and some real ugliness lately. Imagine that this entire time he has also been working as a Senator and raising his family. Two years. How many of us are even willing to devote a few hours to calling undecided voters, knocking on doors or driving people to the polls on election day?

I guess we'll have the answer to that on November 4th. I hope to God it's the right one.