Is That Mist On The Lens?

Lots of stuff to think about today. The decade long presidential campaign is at an end. What? It wasn’t a decade? Well, it seems like it’s been going on forever. But this election, as Obama keeps saying, was a defining moment in American politics. This election busted down the gates of leadership, and recreated our collective view of who can be a leader.
I’m glad about the outcome, I definitely want the Democrats back in control of the White House. I can’t say I was an “Obama supporter,” exactly, because I think that term has taken on a particular meaning infused with a bit of zealotry, but I did support Obama in this election. I am not pleased with the level of experience in political business he has, but now that we can look back at the way he ran his campaign, I do see some signs of hope for his ability to accomplish major policy goals.
The very fact that the campaign ran so long was likely a calculated move on Obama’s part. He was a fairly new politician, mostly unknown, with racial baggage and a “scary” name. He needed time to let the country become accustomed to him, and then familiar with him, and then unfazed by him. That was not something that could have happened in a short period of time.
Most politicians in his position, with the White House as a goal, would have used their Senate seat as a platform to create the needed familiarity, but for whatever reason he wanted to make his run now. He was brash enough to think he could condense the experience factor, but smart enough to know he needed something more than the traditional campaign. And he pulled it off.
So maybe the hope of universal healthcare – or at least some major reforms to the broken system we have now – has moved past hope into possibility.
And even if we don’t get health care reform, I do believe we’ve reformed the picture of a leader.