Witnessing History

This morning, we woke up with the answer to a question that has taken nearly two years to determine - Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States. Last night, we witnessed a historical election unfold. Many thought this day would never come. But, it did. And it proves that the spirit of America is strong. That we, as Americans, believe anything is possible.

I realized this morning that when Garth and I have children, they will never know what the world was like before we chose an African American to lead our country. I can't begin to understand the turmoil of the civil rights movement or the days of slavery. But, even in my lifetime, I've lived in a world where riots broke out L.A. following the Rodney King trial and witnessed other countless stories of inequality. Certainly, the election of Barack Obama does not end racism. But, it proves that our country is capable of looking past the color of one's skin, the strangeness of one's name or the uniqueness of one's heritage. Our country, unlike so many others, offers tremendous freedom and opportunity.

Electing our country's first African American President is historic enough. But, I think this election goes beyond that. The record number of voters in every category - young, old, black, white - was incredible. The enthusiasm for taking part in an important aspect of our country's political process was astounding. People were happy to wait in line to cast their votes. Extraordinary numbers of people volunteered for both campaigns or get out the vote efforts (I know we got three calls last night to see if we voted!).

I'm especially proud of my generation, whose stereotypical apathy has previously shown that this demographic couldn't be counted on to show up when it counts. But this time, young people realized that they could make a real difference in the outcome of this election. Perhaps the young vote became mobilized because they felt, finally, that someone was listening to them or that their vote actually mattered. Whatever the reason, I think we should be proud that so many Americans acted upon their right and privilege to vote.

Our country has many challenges ahead. I hope the enthusiasm generated from the election will be channeled toward participation, interest and involvement in the political process. It doesn't matter if you voted for McCain, Obama, Nader or Barr, we must work together if we hope to accomplish change for the better in this country.

Debates Come to Nashville

As I'm sure you know, the Presidential Debates came to Belmont University in Nashville this week. We were pumped to have this historical event come to town. As a Belmont alum, Garth was especially excited.

We live less than a mile from campus, so we really hoped to somehow get in on the Debate action. Of course, only a very select view got to see the debate live. Even though we couldn't attend the debate, we just couldn't stay at home. We decided to venture out to see what we could see. Here's our evening...

So, we ventured out to Bosco's (a few blocks from the debates) for a beer and some dinner.

Then, we went to a debate watch party at the Belcourt Theater.

This is us watching the debate on TV, just like everyone else. :)

On the way home, we got stuck in post-debate traffic. They stopped traffic for the McCain motorcade. Right now, we're sitting right next to the Belmont campus. This is about as close to the action as we got. So, it was VERY uneventful for us. We didn't see any media personalities or any political figures. So close, but yet so far away...

A couple of our friends had much better luck.

Garth's lawyer friend, Jonathan, served as a debate volunteer. He got to be Mitt Romney's guide. We were looking at the Nashville Business Journal online and happened to find this picture of Romney. Jonathan is the guy in the red hat!

My friend, Cara, is a politcal reporter for the local NBC station. She got to be in the media tent, or "spin room". She was excited! She got to interview former Tennessee congressman, Harold Ford, Jr. You can click here to see the interview or you can read her blog entry about her time in the spin room.