I don’t get political here – I tend to stand on a pretty big, unpopular soapbox in my work and this has kind of been a haven from all that – but as I have processed my feelings and the significance of this election, I felt compelled to write something about it.  I am not informed enough to have an intelligent opinion – I can only tell you what I feel, what I see, what I have experienced and I hope that, should we disagree, we can do so civilly.

I wasn’t a rabid Obama fan. I had reservations about his experience and he seemed almost too good to be true. I usually dismiss good speakers as the products of good speechwriters – so his speeches, while moving, merely awoke the cynic in me.

I did do some research – I found that John McCain had no domestic HIV/AIDS plan. That he planned to tax health insurance as income. That he had no stand on women’s health issues (and with a woman as a VP pick…what?). I found that Palin’s administration charged Wasilla rape victims for the post-rape exam they were subjected to – can you imagine having been raped, then going to the hospital to relive the attack (only with medical instruments this time…) and then receiving a bill in the mail for $1,200?

Not me.

I also saw the bitterness and anger coming from Republicans all over the country, most notably in my own state, where Senator Dole called her opponent “Fibber Kay Hagan” and managed to fake her opponent’s voice in an ad, accusing Ms. Hagan, a Sunday School teacher, of being “Godless.”  I saw McCain call Obama “that one.” I saw his barely concealed contempt for Obama at every turn. I saw fearmongering, and hate, and though he did give a very gracious and eloquent concession speech, I did wonder throughout the campaign why McCain/Palin seemed to hate Obama, and the people who believed in him, so incredibly much.

The Replublicans probably wonder why someone like me isn’t afraid of Obama’s liberal politics.

Well, I’m a liberal too. A liberal Christian white Southern voter who believes everyone deserves a fair shot. Everyone deserves to start out with housing, food, clothing, medical care, and education.  Call me a socialist, it really doesn’t hurt my feelings.  Because when I ask myself “What would Jesus do?” I think the answer includes giving everyone a fair shot, being good stewards of our money and our environment, bringing people together, and looking for hope in the face of some pretty desperate times.

My pride in my state and my country grew as I realized that other people like me saw past all the discrimination we may have been taught, all the fear we were fed, all the labels and all the insinuations that were unleashed during this very long campaign, and voted for the person we believed could do the best job possible.

And I know there are people who believe Mr. Obama will start giving handouts – but I must say that I disagree. He has worked hard to get where he is – he has endured a grueling campaign and he knows that the hard work has barely begun. I think he will be an example and set the expectation for all of us that hard work and hope can get a person a lot further than anyone ever imagined. I don’t think he will expand welfare benefits or reward people for not doing their best. I think he will inspire us all to want better than that.

My hope is that we can all let go of our fear and our anger, and put our politics and our hurt aside and move forward into a new dawn, a new day, a place where change in the air can bring us closer together, closer to a more perfect union.