It all began on Monday night when our three girls were invited to spend the night with my parents. They were enjoying a two-day break from school and the second happen to be Super Tuesday. But this was not just Super Tuesday, but it was Historical Super Tuesday. And because Monica and I had to work on Monday and Tuesday, my parents graciously offered to look after the kids for us. Thank God for grandparents - even though they tend to let them watch t.v. programs and movies that we wished they would have preapproved with us beforehand. No matter though because a historical moment would take place by the end of the day, Tuesday.
By the end of the day's voting our nation would either have the first African-American president ever or the first female vice-president ever. It was exciting to say the least. And to top it off, in North Carolina we would decide if this would be the year we would elect the first woman governor of our state. My anticipation rivaled that of a Duke-UNC basketball game, which is pretty exciting for me.
So having the kids spend the night with their Nana and Papa on Monday night made it possible for Monica and me to vote together before we made our way into work. Mostly I voted democratic this time around, a stark contrast from the last election. I don't know what it is but the more books I read, the more people I meet, and the more praying I do, I have aligned more with ideaology that is on the left. It's funny. I thought that the more I became religiously faithful, I would certainly become part of the evangelical Christian right. But that's not the case.
The results reflected the poker equivalent of a full house. Barak Obama and Joe Biden were elected president and vice president respectively. Bev Perdue became the first woman governor of North Carolina, after serving two terms as lieutenant governor. And Kay Hagan unseated Libby Dole for the U.S. Senate seat. All three races were expected to be close but I didn't believe that all democrats would get elected. It's certainly a testimony to the way things have gone recently with a republican-led government in our nation's past eight years.
The part that saddens me is I fear we have not pulled ourselves out of playing partisan politics when it comes to dealing with the issues our nation faces. I'm afraid that our two-party system perpetuates this 'us' versus 'them' attitude and we cannot seem to look past petty differences to accomplish the work that is before us.
With a weak economy, an unpopular war in the middle east, a deficient healthcare system, tax burdens, a failing social security system, and so on, we have plenty of work to do. But how much can we realistically accomplish? Will anyone step up the courage and take his/her ego out of the equation in order to work with others to make this a better America and better world to live in? I am cautiously optimistic.
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