Over the next few days I will write my reflections on this historic election, the reasons for the Obama victory as well as the McCain loss, the meaning of such a huge Democratic win, and some speculation about the future of the two parties.
It is difficult to summarize the many reasons Obama won this election. There are so many factors, political, historical, economic, and personal that led to the victory.
Sometimes, however, I think it boils down to destiny.
When I look back at his life and the preparation that led him to this moment, to his travels overseas as a child, to his extraordinary temperament, to his enormous energy and drive, to his first class mind, to his early and total opposition to the Iraq War, and to his introduction to the nation a mere four years ago with a speech at the Democratic convention, I see something that almost seems pre-ordained. Obama was the right man at the right time, like Washington, Lincoln, and other great leaders, who seem to emerge right when they are needed.
There is a unique quality to Obama seen in only a handful of great leaders, a quality that draws people to him, that makes them want to follow, that energizes them to sacrifice days and weeks of their life to work for his election. Call it charisma, or commitment, or simply an acute sense of one's vocation in the world, Obama has that certain something that elevates him above all other politicians.
It is that "something," combined with an excellent campaign strategy and the failure of contemporary conservative ideology, that enabled him to defeat both the Clintons and a vicious Republican smear machine, and emerge as the next President of the United States.
There are much more mundane things to talk about with respect to how and why Obama won and how and why McCain lost, but today is a day for celebration and reflection and rest.
Yes we can! Yes we did!
