Perspective on the Election

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sciencefriction at 11.4.08 - 4:52 pm
This was posted on my friend Bernice's blog and I just wanted to share her insightful thoughts...
"on the election.
Today at 11:00am
I generally like to stay out of government politics in the realm of my blog. But I can’t escape it, because supposedly, today the world is going to change for better or for worse. today, is THAT day. November 4, 2008.
I honestly can’t say I am pro-Obama, more than I am pro-the-Obama-movement. I can’t say that I went out of my way to figure out the issues and where each of these candidates stand. Though I should be happy and excited that everyone is voting today, I can’t honestly say I am.
Today I am counting how many Obama shirts I see. I have been counting the times people have asked me, “what are you going to do for the elections?” I am counting the number of facebook statuses that have been donated to Obama.
Is this what politics means to America? Is this the critical mass that will change the world? A bunch of fb addicts and hipsters? Should I be excited about that?
The reason why I am not excited by NOVEMBER 4 is because I am not excited to parade myself into the cool crowd. Let’s not get it twisted, I am excited by the outcome. I want to know who the next president will be, and I honestly do want it to be Obama. This is the man who galvanized an American public — and I respect him for that. Do I need to go to a bar and take a shot for every electoral vote he gains? No, probably not.
You may think I am cycnical or that I don’t care, but its that I do. I care EVERYDAY. I am not so much excited about November 4, I am way more excited to see what happens Nov 5. Nov. 12, Nov 19, 2009. Because when the hype is done, what happens next?
I care about a world that will put in a FRACTION of the energy and love they have for Obama into their friends, and family, and neighbors. I care about making the Politics of Change and the Politics of Love personal. I want politics to be an everyday understanding that the “person”al is political.
What will happen tomorrow? When you can’t tell your friends, “GO VOTE!” or when your facebook status tells me how beautiful Nov. 4 was or wasn’t? What will happen a month from now when your opening line can’t be, “how did you feel about the election?” What happens then?
I honestly hope that the hype, the movement that Obama and this election has impressed upon this country continues after November 4 because, that’s what I am holding on to. I want people to feel and know that they can change the world everyday not just today."
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