Sweet victory for Obama

PERRYSCOPE

Perry Diaz

Two weeks prior to Election Day, President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign was faltering while Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign was on momentum.  Indeed, after their first debate – where Romney shifted to the middle – Romney looked like he was going to win.  He was formidable… unstoppable!

Then came Hurricane Sandy… and things changed!  Sandy changed the direction of the campaign.  Suddenly, the game changed!  Obama took charge of dealing with Sandy while Romney tried to make a political capital out of it.  Obama looked presidential and statesmanlike while Romney looked opportunistic and scheming.

The presidential election was indeed a study in contrast between two strong personalities who have different visions for the country.  They both agreed that the country needs change for a better future.  But how to achieve that “change” was the bone of contention.  Romney wanted to shrink government while Obama wanted to make government more efficient in addressing the needs of the people.  Romney wanted to privatize Medicare, Social Security, FEMA, education, and a variety of government programs.  Obama wanted to keep all of them.  Romney wanted to gut ObamaCare.  Obama said, “No way!”  Romney wanted illegal immigrants to self-deport.  Obama wanted to give them a path to citizenship.  Romney wanted to extend the Bush tax cuts.  Obama would let them expire at the end of 2012.  Romney told the automakers, “Let Detroit go bankrupt!”  Obama saved the auto industry.

In the end, the people bet their future on Obama.  But it wasn’t easy.  This election was the dirtiest and nastiest presidential contest in recent history.    

In the final days of the campaign, Romney branded Obama as anti-American and anti-religion.  His vice presidential running mate, Paul Ryan, attacked Obama’s policies saying that they are a threat to “Judeo-Christian” values.  One of Romney’s surrogates, John Sununu, called Obama lazy and other terrible terms.  Donald Trump kept on raising the birth certificate issue.   Obama endured all these insults.

But that is all behind us now.  Obama’s victory put all these issues behind and the work to finish what he promised four years ago can now come to fruition.  However, the challenges are daunting.  The Republicans will continue to obstruct Obama’s agenda.  But for how long?  Would they risk the ire of the people and seal their fate in the 2016 elections and beyond?

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The extreme rightwing agenda of Romney led him to his Waterloo.  American political history proved that no extremist – rightwing or leftwing – could win the White House.  In 1964, the people rejected Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater who declared in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!” 

With the takeover of the Republican Party by the Tea Party movement, the Grand Old Party of Abrahan Lincoln might soon become a political dinosaur, a relic of the past.  Changing demographics has irreversibly transformed the country into a multi-cultural and multi-racial society.  The Jim Crow era is long gone; however, as the Romney campaign had demonstrated, it is far from eradicated in the minds of those who want to relive the era of bigotry.

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The night before Election Day, President Barack and Michelle Obama went back to Des Moines, Iowa where he launched his first presidential bid in 2008.  He told a cheering crowd of 20,000 supporters, “I’ve come back to Iowa one more time to ask for your vote. I came back to ask you to help us finish what we’ve started, because this is where our movement for change began.”  Midway through his speech, Obama became emotional; his voice cracked and he wiped tears from his eyes as he thanked those who helped his campaign.

He told the story of a woman who coined “Fired up, ready to go,” which came to symbolize his 2008 campaign.  He told his supporters, “That shows you what one voice can do. One voice can change a room. And if it can change a room, it can change a city. And if it can change a city, it can change a state. And if it can change a state, it can change a nation. And if it can change a nation, it can change the world.”  “Iowa,” he said, “in 2008 your voice changed the world.”

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At 11:12 p.m. on Election Day, Ohio’s 18 electoral votes brought Obama over the top.  It was a sweet victory for him.  But nothing could be more gratifying than beating the odds that he will not be re-elected.

After receiving a congratulatory call from Romney, Obama spoke before 10,000 supporters at the humongous McCormick Place in Chicago.  He electrified them with his stirring speech. “Tonight, in this election, you — the American people — reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come,” he told the cheering crowd.

Indeed, Obama’s journey from his humble beginnings to the pinnacle of power of the greatest country on Earth, is one of the greatest American success stories.  In the next four years, he has an opportunity to change the nation… and the world.  And if he succeeds, he will leave a legacy for future generations of Americans.  And with that comes greatness. (PerryDiaz@gmail.com)