RhodesNetwork

Tonight, citizens of these United States voiced themselves in record numbers.  Tonight, an idea expressed by some has been embraced by many.  Tonight, the winds of change have swept in from the windy city through a mighty nation.  Tonight, a country has been called to begin anew, to begin together, to begin with courage, to begin.

This young nation, just 221 years old, a nation that has been divided over issues of slavery and segregation, elected its first African-American President.  I’m so proud to have been part of this.  I’m so proud of these United States.

And I’m inspired.

In John McCain’s speech congratulating Barack Obama’s victory, I saw the John McCain that caught the attention of so many in 1999 and 2000.  I thought it was his best speech of the campaign, not because he was conceding defeat but because he spoke of unity and hope.

And in his speech tonight, President-Elect Barack Obama spoke to a nation that has been brought down by financial crisis.  He spoke to a nation that has become crippled by the politics of fear.  He spoke to a nation that has too long been focused on its differences.  He spoke to a nation that had been brought to its knees and called us to get on our feet.

He called all Americans to look forward at the work to be done rather than at the victory won in this relative short-term.  He called us to remember that a nation that is truly led by its people must depend on the work of its people.  And to that end, its people must work.  Its people must sacrifice.  Its people must sweat.  Its people must rise to every challenge, must rise above the mire, must rise as the shining beacon that has not been  – nor will it be – extinguished by these past years of darkness.

So, let us all – of every race, every creed, every sexual identity, every political affiliation – work together toward the betterment of this great nation.

Yes we can.  Yes we can.

First of all, I want to take a minute to talk about the negative ads.  While it’s true that I’m an Obama supporter and that I argue that McCain’s ads are far more insidious than Obama’s, I have seen a disturbing trend as both candidates continue to go more and more negative.  I’ve been frequenting two web sites (PolitiFact and FactCheck) who are offering what I think is good information on how candidates and other supporting organizations have been misleading.

The key to this issue is this.  These kinds of ads are produced because they work!  If we as Americans choose not to pay attention to this tripe and choose to educate ourselves, these ads won’t work and won’t affect the poles thereby removing both campaigns’ motivation for producing them.  This is something we as Americans can influence.  So we need to get educated and vote in November.

Ok.  Now on to the second thing.  I just heard the news that Senator McCain is suspending his campaign because of this economic crisis and because “it has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the administration’s proposal.”  I recognize the importance of this issue and very strongly support the Senators’ return to Washington to be part of the solution.

But my gut reaction is that this does not in any way necessitate the suspending of campaigns nor the postponing of the debate.  To be even more blunt, I really think that Senator McCain is using this issue as a political tool to change the timing of the debate because the current economic crisis is harmful to his campaign.  In other words, I think this is a smokescreen.  I’m tired of political games.  To me, this is the same-old-same-old.  I’m done with Bush politics.  I want real change, and that’s not John McCain.