Answers for Carrie and Rachel

At first I was just going to answer this in the comments, but I couldn’t make it short enough to feel like I was actually answering your questions. It's never been my intention for this blog to be political in any way (yes, I know I had an Obama doohickey during the election, but that was as far as I ever intended to go), but I don’t feel like I can leave this unanswered. I considered just emailing you guys, but then I thought that there might be other people who wonder the same things and are waiting to see how I respond (ah, the pressure of being a blogger!) So, in order to compromise with myself, I’ve gone with the “short” answer, and hopefully this will help you guys better understand why so many of us are so excited about President Obama. (Also, please know that I’m not offended or upset in any way, just unsure of how to approach this on a blog that has always been intended to be more of a family journal-type thingy. But then again, I suppose this is journal-worthy.)

As for what I think Obama will do to help our children fly that other presidents haven’t, the answer is pretty simple, and fits with the context of that quote. He is continuing to break down the barriers of race. The color of a person’s skin truly does not matter anymore. 50 years ago my daughters couldn’t have sat next to their aunt and uncle on the bus, something that, as we welcome the first African-American President, they can’t even begin to imagine (who wouldn’t want to sit next to Erica or Scotty on the bus?)

I was so proud to be an American yesterday as I watched the inauguration. I couldn’t stop the tears. Obama may not be perfect. I’m realistic enough to expect that it’s likely that he will not be able to follow through on all his pre-election promises. But for me, the fact that he is striving to work in the direction he is means a lot. I feel like he has my interests at heart. I’m hopeful for what he can do to bring the economy back out of the hole it’s in right now. I’m encouraged that he advocates affordable health care for everyone. This is a biggie for me – we went through a time when Chris did not have insurance, and we constantly prayed that nothing would happen to him. At that time, the girls and I fortunately qualified for Medicaid, but without that we wouldn’t have had insurance, either. Right now we can’t afford the insurance plan offered through Chris’s office and had to sign up for an individual plan instead. But we are lucky that we can afford to do that – so many people, and so many of them are children, are going without necessary health care right now because they just plain can’t afford it. I just don’t think this is right. I say we as a country can’t afford for people not to have the health care they need. Obama’s goals for education are important to me as well. I don’t think the No Child Left Behind plan is working as well in practice as it does in theory. Obama has promised to reform this. Without good and well-rounded education, our children cannot fly. I also do not agree with many of Pres. Bush’s views on the war in Iraq and am looking forward to the day when our troops are no longer there. The Obama campaign slogan was “Change We Can Believe In”, and I truly do believe in his potential to make the changes our country needs. I recently read Dreams from My Father, and I’m impressed with him as a man as much, if not more, as I am with him as a leader. If you want to understand more who he is and where he’s coming from, it’s a great read, and it was written before he’d even begun his campaign for senator, so it doesn’t come with a political agenda.

I hope this answered your questions, at least a little bit! Thanks for giving me the chance to ponder all this.