Obama and the Speech of a Lifetime

Before I start anything, I promise not to turn this blog into a political blog. But this is a general blog about life AND this is a Presidential election year, so posting about the upcoming election is not totally unavoidable. It is going to be a part of my life and a part that, at times, I will feel the need to blog about. Enough said on that...

Along with millions of Americans nationwide and over 84,000 people at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, I watched Barack Obama deliver the speech of a lifetime. Never in the past 32 years of my voting life have I ever been so excited, so entranced, so motivated, and so deeply moved by a Presidential candidate as I was by Obama last night. It was a historic and defining moment, not just for Obama or the Democrats, but for America as a whole.

While scouring the internet for reviews and comments, it seems that everyone, even those who oppose Obama, felt it was a great speech. All the things I felt and wanted to say about this speech were already laid out so eloquently by Margaret Carlson on Bloomberg.com in her article, Obama Comes Down to Earth, Meets His Moment. Please read it.

The platform of the night was CHANGE. Yet there is so much more behind the change than any other election has offered. It was no coincidence that Obama's speech was held on the anniversary of another great speech, given by another great man, Dr. Martin Luther King. My good friend, Linda, lamented the other day that she was disturbed that there were people who would not vote for Barack simply because of the color of his skin. In 2008, there are still plenty of people who fit that category. Take a look at what Jacob Weisberg has to say in his Newsweek Article, What Would the Neighbors Think?

If you read Weisberg's article and especially the comments to his article, it would be easy to misconstrue that he is stating that everyone who doesn't vote for Obama is doing so because of the color of his skin. But that's not what he's saying. What he is saying is that there are plenty of people out there who would have voted for Obama had he been white but would rather vote for a dead dog than a person of color. Enough people, potentially, to cost him the election.

On Chicagotribune.com, Dawn Turner Trice understands his point and takes a different perspective in her article, Obama's Nomination Doesn't End Fight for Civil Rights. She understands that change does not come in big giant swoops, but in little baby steps taken over and over and over. She realizes that even if Obama does get elected, the prejudices that are so ingrained in certain parts of our society will not change over night.

I don't want to see this election become an issue of race. I want people to see beyond those deeply instilled prejudices and deal with the issues at hand that effect America the most: The Economy, Health Care, The War In Iraq, Housing, and The Deficit. We will feel the negative effects of the Bush Presidency for years to come. We need a President who will make changes and start the wheels turning in a new direction--a better direction that will help compensate for the previous administration's mistakes and overly conservative decisions. And we can have a President like that in Barack Obama.