Election Day 2008

Last Tuesday we, the American public, elected Barack Obama to be our 44th President. There were few problems reported even though record numbers turned out to vote and many had to wait in line for hours. In our little neighborhood (which surprisingly has 2 polling places, Playhouse and Art Museum) spouse and I were #23 and #24 to vote @ Playhouse. We only had to wait about 15 minutes (usually we have no wait at all). Also surprising was our polling place had 2 extra machines. Today, at the invitation of George and Laura Bush, Barack and Michelle Obama will meet and tour the White House. Below is a poem J.D. McClatchy wrote based on his inspiration of our electorate process. Spouse and I heard him read it on the MacNeil Lehrer Newshour 3 days after the election. Election Day The older couples had voted just after dawn, And by noon the exit polls are underway. Some talking head opines in San Jose. A poster leans mute and silent on the lawn. "As the wind blows, so the flag will wave," Says a cynic who is nevertheless waiting in line. The woman in front of him has been assigned The nearest booth where she plans, again, to save The Republic from itself - the drama played out In this miniature theater, with its curtain and cast. Today will be a performance of the past, Its fortunes and flaws, its certainty and doubt. The pencil has no eraser. She makes her choice, Determined but still uncertain how it will end, As the Founders were as well who thought to lend So much importance to each small impassioned voice. But will the cynics vote now cancel hers? She stays behind to watch him enter the booth. (In our democracy, we think the truth Is what everyone, regardless, secretly prefers.) She won't know anything but threats and trends Until, again in the dark, but midnights now, She can sense what hope the numbers will allow, And what you get when you smear or overspend. She will sit and stare at charts on CNN. (But aren't we redeemed by what they cannot show? The struggle in each restless heart to know The terms on which the nations fate depends.) She will think how, at last, millions have spoken as one, That freedom requires an open mind and hand, And the strength to be forgiven and understand, And that tomorrow morning it has all just begun. J.D. McClatchy