So said Chuck Todd this today on Morning Joe. Consider my hometown Exhibit A.I live in Edina, Minnesota, a quintessential suburb. Southdale, the first-ever enclosed shopping mall was built here in 1956. During that same era, when my mom was growing up here, Edina was a "Sundown Town -- non-whites were
Edina is 94% White and 0.13% African American. That means there are 752 Whites for every Black person in my town.
The median household income is $66,000, versus the Minnesota state average of $47,000.
Edina is represented by Republicans in the state legislature, state senate, and U.S. Congress.
Get the picture? Edina is a rich, white, Republican suburb.
Barack Obama won Edina 55% - 43% (17,399 - 13,669).
And Obama won my polling place 52% - 46% (916 - 813).
And maybe the most noteworthy statistic is that 95% of the registered voters in my precinct voted yesterday.
What happened in Edina? Was it a referendum on Bush 43? An anti-war vote? Fear of the economic downturn?
Probably all of the above, but I think it was primarily something else: Barack Obama ran the most effective, impressive political campaign in history. His calm overwhelmed the Clinton machine; his embrace of Internet fundraising literally shifted the balance of power from big money donors to 3.5 million individuals giving an average of $83 each; and his caucus strategy (in Minnesota, for instance) will be studied for years. Edina is simply indicative of Obama's brilliance as a politician and, we can hope, as a leader.
As I write this, Cokie Roberts is talking on NPR about "the white vote," which is the Republican stronghold, particularly white men. But thankfully, that demographic (of which I am a part) is now a minority in our country. And, even so, we voted for Obama.
It's a new day in America.
Know Hope.
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John McCain revealed himself to the country. Obama did not. Obama was able to convince the masses that he is whatever an individual wants him to be.
If you ask 100 John McCain supporter why you voted for him, you will get a solid, consistent reflection of who the man is and what he stands for - an absolute. If you ask 100 Barack Obama supporters why, you'll get 95 relativistic reflections. Obama is whoever you want him to be. If you're a wealthy business owner, you GET a 3K tax credit for new employees. If you're part of the 95% working class, you'll get a big tax break. If you don't pay taxes, you'll get more welfare. If you're ultra-rish, well, we'll tax you just a little more - afterall, it's your partiotic duty.
If you're for the war, well then we'll satisfy your craving for revenge by infultrating Afganistan. If you're against, well, we'll pull out of Iraq.
We live in a post-modern era where truth, character, and the moral compass is relative - Obama has successfully painted himself as such.
Obama had the right strategy, message, temperament, ideas and policies, and ran a flawless campaign. McCain had a good record and background, but terrible strategy, tactics, temperament and ideas.
In the end I judge Obama, not by his Christian faith -- I would support him even if he was a Muslim -- but by the good faith effort he puts into achieving the goals we set during this campaign.
Eventually.
Now I'm just delirious and jubilant!
My immigrant grandparents were outspoken bigots who, to my shame, rooted for the Axis side and its racist/anti-Semitic philosophy during World War II. A friend of mine, with roots in the South, related the story of her grandfather hitting her grandmother because she had politely stepped aside on a sidewalk to allow an African-American man to pass them by.
Both of us were choking back tears of happiness and pride the morning after the election. This nation, like our families, has come a long way. Thanks be to God.
On the fundraising, The Washington Post reports that less than 20% of Obama's campaign funds came from donors contributing less than $200. That's a lower percentage than Bush had in the last campaign. That he's funded by ordinary Americans is a myth, not fact. In fact, he bought the election with money from rich folks. And exit polling shows that he won with voters with an income greater than $200,000 a year, while losing among the middle class. He took this normally Republican demographic presumably because they saw him as representing their interests.
Anyone under any illusions that he would offer a different kind of politics should have had them dashed by the first announcement about the Obama presidency - that Rahm Emmanuel would be his Chief of Staff. Emmanuel could be the poster boy for all that's wrong with politics in Washington. He's nasty, crude, profane and highly partisan. Look for most of his top appointments to be the same old hands we've seen over and over again.
We should pray for Obama, but not be naive.
Speaking of presidents, just about any time Tony Jones speaks on anything, I am reminded of our greatest president's poignant saying:
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
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