Obama's Election and Presidential Commencement

Commencement: The end of one thing and the start of something entirely new.

Last night's convincing victory over Republican John McCain was the conclusion of now President-elect Barack Obama's campaign and the beginning of what will be his Presidential administration. His commencement ceremony last night in Chicago marked the gleeful end of one thing, and the highly-anticipated start of something entirely new.

There's a lot to be said regarding the events that took place on Super Tuesday, many of them historic and compelling.

First and foremost, let me just remind you that I told you so, prognosticating an Obama victory, although it was not as I had though it would be. In my mind, Obama carried many of the traditional states, but his strength laid in his remarkably charismatic popularity. I thought if McCain had any shot at all, it would have to be in the Electoral College, where if he were to have won a majority of the swing states, and maintained many of the states the GOP usually kept, I thought there might have been an outside chance that he could gain the electoral votes necessary without gleaning the popular vote.

In actuality, my theory of McCain's Hail Mary were backwards, although it validated my original prediction. Obama had the electoral votes locked up by 8:30 CST. I was indeed surprised to see McCain doing so well in the popular vote. He ended up losing by roughly seven million votes, but when Obama clinched, that number was far closer, around only two million at most. McCain held his own in the popular vote, and in the election overall, both of which surprised me.

Speaking of Ole Man River, I think Johnny Mac ran a tremendous campaign. The odds clearly had never been in his favor. An unpopular president with an unpopular war and a palpable desire for change in the air away from the reigning party – his party – were never what John McCain would have called "ideal conditions." The fact that McCain's race was even this close is truly remarkable.

The concession speech McCain gave was brilliant. Granted, he probably had time to craft his speech driving from city to city on his campaign trail days in advance, but it was still a great speech. He congratulated Obama on a job well done, and offered his services to him as his President for his country that he loves. This was far better than John Kerry's pink tie affair, in which he "aww shucks"ed his way into trying to call the nation to unite behind President Bush, while his running mate John "The Continental" Edwards was still clamoring for a recount.

I can't seem to recall Al Gore's concession speech. I was probably knee-deep in some New Years Eve 2000 festivities at that point when he finally did throw in the towel. I'm sure it was as riveting as he was.

But McCain touched on the over-arching issue of this election, which couldn't be more apparent: Race. I'm not going to act like I am qualified – by maturity or experience – to discuss just how important the election of an African-American president is. It's monumental. It's probably the biggest event to come out of an election in American history. Can you think of any other election that carried as much weight as this single session of voting carried? No, you can't because it didn't happen until this past Nov. 4.

While I am admittedly inept to describe just how tremendous this occasion was, African-Americans on all of the major new stations were just as speechless in many cases. The phrase "Not in my lifetime" was uttered on more than one occasion. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who stood with Martin Luther King Jr. on the Lorraine Hotel balcony 40 years and seven months ago to the day, simply wept. But McCain, who had yet another difficult task in front of him, spoke with grace and conviction, delivering a spot on speech about the significance of Obama's victory, saying:

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too.

But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.

America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.

Powerful stuff from someone who was considered to be one of the most antiquated politicians today. Congrats, McCain. In your failed campaign, you have salvaged plenty of dignity.

Now on to President-elect Obama. While I am no advocate of this supposed "Doomsday Theory" that claims that the election of B. Hussein Obama will be the fall of modern democracy, decency and Christianity as we know it, I am still relatively skeptical of what sort of President he will be. Understand that this skepticism is in no way concrete, I just believe we don't know enough about the guy to say whether he's going to be the next FDR or the next Jimmy "Peanut" Carter; we didn't know much about those guys either, other than they were agents of pure change, and it's unanimous that they are in different leagues when considering who was better.

Obama has promised his teeming masses that there will be a "new kind of politics" with him in office and that he wants nothing more than to reach across the aisle with conservatives and get the problems fixed in this country. And while these are all well, good and encouraged, his record does not reflect this bipartisan attitude. He was annually voted the most liberal senator in congress, which depending on your view may not be the worst thing, but it shows his consistency to tend to the left with no regard of the right.

Now this election is a clear mandate that the GOP needs to get back in touch with the people if it wants to remain powerful (after all, that is the point of elections in the first place isn't it?), but if the collective Left thinks that it can accomplish much, they will find out very quickly how the American people react to a malevolent party that controls the executive and the legislative branch, i.e. 2006 mid-term elections.

This much is true: there is endless potential for Obama. For better or worse, there will be no one else to praise or blame for the ups or downs this country will face in the next four years. Barack Obama has an unprecedented amount of executive power, backed by a supportive House and Senate, and he will have to yield it judiciously. Despite the challenges this president-elect will face as a result of the administration immediately prior, no one will be better equipped to handle those challenges. The ball is certainly in Obama's court.

His legacy as the first African-American President is sealed. His legacy as a good president is still to be determined, no matter the pageantry that has deservedly surrounded his ascension.