There has existed an older generation of politicians and politics who have stunted the growth and progress of our great republic – politicians who just get by, their success buoyed by ideas as opposed to solutions, yielding little or no real results and rejecting any real accountability. While throwing stones at those who don’t concur with your political ideology or push your political agenda certainly riles up one’s base of supporters, it exiles others who may not agree with one’s political arc, augmenting their cynicism towards the political process.

The tapestry of our government has been pocked and rotted, in part, by “politicians” playing to their bases at the exclusion of others, effectively disengaging them from the political process. The 2008 election was a rejection of the politics of division and a resounding declaration that speaks to the best of who we are rather than playing to our worst. Barack Obama represents the beginning of the end of the politics of old.

 

The election and inauguration of President Barack Obama ushers an advent of a style of politics that finds common ground in both political parties – one that tries to figure out how policy can best benefit people and not politics. The conventional brand of “business as usual” government that has permeated our democracy for far too long is finally being deconstructed and replaced with a new establishment – one of inclusion and transparency. In a sense, Obama has “shaken up the plantation,” dismantling the structure that’s been put in place to isolate power and access to the few at the expense of the many, ensuring that every one stays in his or her “place”. Obama has helped us see that no one entity has a monopoly on the best ideas, using a new paradigm of government to create a new way of doing things. The dysfunction of the status quo, taking public education as an example, condones inequity and sponsors disenfranchisement. Obama’s vision challenges us all to be more thoughtful about how we craft public policy – it challenges us to defy the status quo that for too long has crippled our nation’s improvement.

The primary reason I ran for office was my commitment to empower people and get involved in the political process. Obama has thrust open that door of access, helping to create more seats at the table for anybody, ANYBODY, who wants to be involved in making the change they wish to see in our governmental system. Now is the time for us to celebrate this shift in our democracy where people feel a part of their own government again. The lessons of President Obama’s individual and collective triumphs are momentous– lessons that all public servants and all Americans alike need to learn in order to champion a “more perfect union.”

No man could orchestrate this moment in history that wakes up the sleeping giant in each of us for change, for openness and transparency, for inclusion and a pride that we longed to feel for our country. It is not he who is divine but this moment in time. President Obama is an inspiration, but not just because he’s attained the highest office in the land. This victory for our country spurs us all to take pride in our country again and moves us to believe that change and everything we put our minds to is possible. Obama inspires us all to believe in our own dreams again; the dreams we have for this country and the dreams we have for our individual lives. Obama inspires us to believe – that a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people can work for the betterment of all people. The politics of old simply aren’t going to work anymore. And I say, “Good Riddance.” I say hello to a new way of thinking, a new way of doing things, a new normal, a new chapter in our nation’s rich history. I say hello to a new America and a new day.