Never before have we faced a Presidential election with such potential to tilt the plates of human history. Regardless the tally, a historic shift will take place on November 4, 2008, to what extent is uncertain. Will the shift be slight - or tectonic?
Months ago, on a cold January afternoon in Des Moines, Iowa, this question, among others, shot through the mind of the Change Candidate, who was part Kenyan and part Kansan. An American son. Heading towards the convention to await caucus results, a wispy voice agitated him: "is America ready?" Time seemed to freeze and silence ensued.
As we stand on the cusp, I hope we silence the voices and America shakes the electoral map and delivers a mandate that registers 10.0 on the Richter. Hope is that thing the opposition mocks, yet it is the precursor to change, and after a glimpse of the ragged political landscape, it is nigh time for it.
For the rich have gotten richer and corporations have pocketed record profits, yet we have seen neither the creation of jobs nor dollars trickling down to the middle class. Despite supply-siders' best intentions, unemployment has risen and wages have stagnated in the midst of escalating food, energy, education, and healthcare costs. In addition, economists predict we might be facing the deepest and longest economic recession since The Great Depression.
Meanwhile, our esteemed leaders in Washington, on both sides of the aisle, are stuck in their own quagmire. In the middle of a mortgage crisis, financial crisis, energy crisis and national security crisis - the last thing the American people need right now is a political crisis.
Drastic problems require drastic solutions, and the moment is upon us to choose between new leadership and the politics of yesterday. The unknown versus the unacceptable. Can we overcome fear or will we trudge the same old road with the Devil We Know?
With wisdom beyond his years, the Change Candidate has a capacity for grasping complex global problems and seeks to understand both sides of every issue before putting forth solutions. He's developed solutions such as an economic plan that will provide three times as much financial relief to the middle class when compared to the competition's pitch. 80% of economists surveyed believe the Change Candidate has a better grasp of the economy. I'll take his economic team of Buffett, Volcker, Rubin, and four Nobel Prize Laureates over his rival's crack team of "Deregulation" Gramm, "Company Killer" Fiorina, and "Trickle-down" Laffer, who all have the same economic message of: don't change a thing.
He proposes a sound defense strategy as we fight a global terrorist network spread across 80 countries with most of our troops mired in one. The fact that the Rand Corporation has reported al Qaeda's numbers are back to pre-9/11 strength has validated the current stratagem's inefficacy. The Change Candidate wants to transition troops to Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight the war on terror, to focus on those regions where terrorists are actually located.
His health care plan will cover 34 million uninsured, and has the best chance of making health care more affordable, accessible, efficient and higher in quality, according to the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund.
As far as energy independence, even T. Boone Pickens, that Swift Boat bankroller, finds the Change Candidate's diversified energy proposals, in which drilling is but a stop-gap, superior to the Devil We Know's long term solution - a crapshoot predominantly based on drilling that has been promulgated by his Party's mass hysteria. A plan characterized by demagogic war cries of "Drill, baby, drill" that sound eerily similar to the incantations of disciples on the verge of englutting a ceremonial Jonestown toast.
More importantly, the Change Candidate possesses a temperament cut from the same swath as the prudent calm of The Great Emancipator who healed a shattered union. His unique gift of igniting the American spirit invokes memories of a young Irish Catholic who heralded to friends and foes alike, that a torch had been passed to a new generation of Americans. He rekindles images of a Reverend who preached of a dream on a mountaintop, now on the brink of actualization. He's the type of leader who can renew our love of country and improve our world image. Not unlike a b-movie actor who commanded the evil empire to "tear down that wall", so that other citizens of the world might share in our freedom.
Naysayers will claim he's too inexperienced, too liberal, too shallow, too soft. Fear mongers will decry him for being too black, too white, too Muslim, too Marxist, and too close to terrorists.
I admit, like Chris Matthews, I felt a chill go up my leg when the Change Candidate tried to describe it: "There's somethin' going on out there, somethin' strirrin' in the air."
The winds of history swirled in Iowa that fateful January night. The tall, lanky black kid with protruding ears ascended the platform and looked upon a throng of mostly white supporters, and he felt the answer. I watched the answer crawl across the bottom of the television screen: Obama 38% - Edwards 30% - Clinton 29% that proclaimed, "America is ready."
He said hope is not settling for the world as it is, but is having the courage to remake the world as it should be. He sent a message to peoples of all creeds, races, lifestyles and religions that he will serve and represent all Americans, and not any one ideology, political party or tradition.
"Because we are not a collection of red states and blue states. We are the United States of America. And in this moment, in this election, we are ready to believe again."
On election night, I pray that the fault lines crack causing Chris Matthews's leg to tingle, because it will signal an end to this drama. It will signal that Change is coming to the White House - and its name is Barack Obama.
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