A Feeling of Uselessness > What Barack Obama Means to Me

After spending nearly the last ten weeks slaving away at office administrivia, business plans, and more useless office paperwork, I find myself unable to get motivated and actually accomplish anything. I told myself that after ABL was over that I would start exercising again, read a couple of books, take a couple of dance classes, and generally be downright awesome. Since my last day of work, I’ve read the first chapter of Barack Obama’s Dreams from my Father, six pages of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Autumn of the Patriarch, and leafed through David Bach’s Live Green, Get Rich. To my credit, I have read numerous magazines cover to cover, including gems like Time and Complex. What intellectual stimuli pass through my frontal lobes into the depths of my cerebellum! Or is it my cerebrum? Ah, a testament to my B- in Human Physiology last quarter. I’ve run a total of -2 miles (ask me how that’s possible), and I have yet to take any dance classes, let alone finalize choreography that I have to teach this coming Wednesday. Sounds like a party, right?

The only significant development that has arisen from the last seven days has been my increased participation in Barack Obama’s campaign. I recently informally joined a political action committee (PAC) called MoveOn for Barack Obama, which is dedicated to (as is implied by its title) electing Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. A couple of days ago, I put on a small gathering with a couple of close friends to watch Obama’s nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The fact that I went through the effort to put this thing together is huge, especially given that I was not (until the recent election) a huge fan of politics and was a skeptic of its ability to influence and create change. I took a chance and put on the party mainly because I was tired of what the Bush administration had been doing and because everyone and their mother had jumped on the Barack Obama bandwagon at Stanford and I wanted to take a sip of the cult Kool-Aid, granted that I did tout myself as a mildly-informed Obama supporter during the last school year.

As I prepared for the event, I found myself more and more drawn to the complexities and intricacies of Obama’s message of hope and change. Say what you will about his campaign being built solely on the strength of his rhetoric, but, as a former English major and a proponent of the power of writing and language, what he has to say is extremely gripping. I truly believe that, as an orator, you can only falsify your belief in what you are presenting to a certain extent; in order for a speech to be truly moving, you must believe with all your heart the value and power of each word you speak. I see that, I hear that, I feel that each time I watch Senator Obama speak.

My time in college has led me to believe that my future lies in creating positive change, and I feel a connection to Obama’s words. In my mind, they are a call to action to every citizen of this great country, asking them to look past their own selfish wants to take care of his or her American family, whether White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, etc. We should not, as noble residents of this nation, let the color of our skin divide us, but rather allow the colors of our flag unite us and allow us to see that beyond the surface, we are all the children of opportunity and the bearers of great responsibility to each other and to the world. More importantly, we must realize that, like Obama said, “...change does not come from Washington; it comes to Washington”. We, as a body of Americans, are ultimately chartered to take hold on the future lying before us. We, as mothers and fathers of the next generation of citizens, must shape the destiny of our children now by our actions.

I feel that this is Obama’s message, and I believe this is why so many young people have clung to him and have elevated him to “celebrity” status, as the GOP likes to call it. And so what if he’s the political equivalent of a rock star? I would rather have a president that young people can proudly look up to, rather than one that is mocked and loathed on late-night sketch television (although I acknowledge that if Obama is elected, he is going to make mistakes and get smacked around on Saturday Night Live every once in a while). His influence alone has inspired millions of young people to register and vote (at least 4 million new Democrats) and countless others, regardless of party, creed, or gender, to take up arms in the fight against injustice, prejudice, and inequality. Obama has become a symbol of hope in an unsure time, and although that alone is not reason enough to elect him, it’s good knowing that, if elected, he will continue to be that for so many people as President.

If you are one of the dedicated souls who has endeavored to read this far, I ask that you humor me once more and either begin or continue to follow the election, whether or not you can vote. Learn about what needs to be done to make this nation better. If you can vote, I do not ask you to do so for Barack Obama without reason, but rather that you chose whomever you feel will be able to lead this country to become the America you would like it to be for yourself and your red, white, and blue brothers and sisters.

Thanks for reading!