Barack Obama: Why?

I wanted more than anything for Barack Obama to be elected President of the United States and this past week I got my wish. Here are some reasons why:
-Change. Yeah, I know this word was so overused in the campaign but there is a reason it struck a chord with so many. Take a look at where we are as a country. Much of the world has great disdain for us. If you've traveled for just a couple of days outside of this country within the past 8 years you would know that. Our reputation as a country that fights for good is tarnished and we are a laughing stock in many parts of the world. How does it look when we are bogged down in a "war" that we dove into on false premises and an economy built on borrowed money and huge trade deficit? Furthermore, our government is full of corruption from top to bottom. We are bombarded monthly, it seems, with stories of political, financial, sexual scandal involving top politicians that we have put our faith in. So, if you can't see why "change" is such a popular concept, I am sorry.
-Hope. Another seemingly general concept. Conservatives and even some liberals argued that people were going to vote for Obama for these general concepts, hope and change. They argued that they were going to vote on the issues, which John McCain clearly addressed, and which Obama shied away from. They argued that Obama was all style and no substance. He ran on very vague and broad general ideas that would not solve our country's dire situation or political landscape. I agree that change and hope are very vague ideas. I disagree, as most of the country disagreed, that Obama failed to address specific issues regarding our country's outlook. However, I have to say that those who knocked the Obama campaign's running on the ideas of hope and change gravely underestimated these concepts' importance in the hearts and minds of everyday Americans. The ability to inspire and to unite people for the purpose of improving the lives of all Americans obviously worked for Barack Obama. It worked because in these tough and uncertain times we are all looking for a little light to guide us. We welcome the light, or hope, as we welcome a helping hand when we fall down or a kind word when our spirits are down. What is a world without hope? It is a dark one. And Obama offers us a little bit of light. Now, we shall see how long the light lasts.
-Look at a roster of all the Presidents of the United States. Notice anything? You may have noticed that they are all older white men. While our country has long preached that we are a diverse country that accepts people of all colors and champions the idea of equality among all is it not ironic that all of our Presidents have the same color skin? Finally, I feel, we have proved that all the talk was not just hot air. Again we are a country of innovators. A country that is not all talk and no substance.
-McCain is a maverick but not in this campaign. That was one of his greatest downfalls. I felt that if he would have acted as his normal self, that is a maverick who wasn't afraid to disagree with his own party, he would have had a chance in this election. However, his campaign felt that taking the party line, which obviously didn't work with the American people, would be the safest and surest way to election day. He catered to the ultra-conservatives, threw out ugly rhetoric about Obama (both sides are guilty), and was about as maverick as a marionette.
-Sarah Palin. Need I say more? It was obvious the day that she was appointed the Republicans wanted to take advantage of the dissafected Clinton supporters. But as the campaign wore on, it became clearer that many women were offended by the choice of Palin. There are, I am certain, thousands of women more qualified to be Vice President than Sarah Palin. Again, the McCain campaign knew she would cater to the Republican party's foundation, the rural and Christian hotbeds of our country. She seemed uncomfortable and dodgy in the lone interview that she gave. There were reports that the McCain campaign excercised complete control over her public appearances...which were very few. It seemed like they wanted to hide her. In the last days leading up to election day we were fed reports that there was dissension between the McCain and Palin camps. We became fully aware that, in fact, there were two completely seperate and autonomous camps within the same campaign! A miserable campaign to say the least. We have seen ugly rumors spread by both camps in the aftermath of their election failure. I, as many have said, am extremely greatful that Sarah Palin is not a heart attack away from holding the most powerful position in the world.
-We went through 8 years of a Republican administration. Bush enjoyed great approval ratings after September 11, 2001. People viewed him as a great leader after seeing him on TV vowing to find the terrorists responsible for the attack. He rode on the coattails of September 11th all the way through the 2004 election. But then we started to get impatient with our wars abroad, charges of torture, the handling of Hurricane Katrina victims, our deteoriating reputation worldwide, mortgage crisis, widespread political and financial scandal, more recently a financial crisis amidst recession and what many think will end up a depression. While many conservatives will argue that Democrats are to blame for much of our current situation, with Democrats finally enjoying Congressional majority these last couple of years, it was a Republican at the helm, that being George W. Bush. Like it or not, he is the supreme leader, the iconic figure, and the President holds the most powerful position on Earth. So, naturally, people view Bush as responsible. In this sense, McCain was doomed from the start. Unfortunately for him, he was part of the incumbent party at a time when his party's leader, George Bush, was experiencing near-historic low approval ratings.