President Obama’s supporters are energized. The nation’s capital is enthusiastic. The smell of a November landslide is in the air. I have never seen so many people outraged, fed up and angry with the Republican Party, especially its tea party wing. Americans are starting to recognize that they made a mistake by voting for the tea party and its regressive social agenda.
The president seems to be acting differently these days. He is calling out Republicans on Iran, slamming rightwing commentator Rush Limbaugh for degrading women and pushing back on the outrage about contraception generated by the hard right. He has been confrontational and partisan. I say, right on. After years of bordering on subversion with their contempt for an elected president, the Republicans
are now getting masterfully played by President Obama. He is exposing the tea party for what it is: anti-black, anti-gay, anti-working class. It has become a party of cranky old white men.
President Obama has never looked better. His smile is as wide as it was in 2008. He is standing taller. He’s walking with swagger. He’s wittier, cracking jokes in his public appearances—not to
mention showing off his magnificent voice. Have you heard him croon Al Green songs? The man has got his mojo back. Go ’head, Mr. President.
Why are Obama supporters energized? My guess is that football season is over and baseball season is a few weeks away. Americans have time for the reality TV show that is the Republican primaries, which have been equal parts comedy and horror.
While the world worries about Iran obtaining nukes, the United Nations should worry about our nuclear capability if Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum becomes president. This is one of the many reasons Americans should get out and vote this year.
Historians may look at Obama as one of our luckiest presidents. In 2008, he had the good fortune of Lehman Brothers collapsing and Sarah Palin being selected as the vice presidential candidate.
This election, he has the luck of facing the most incompetent presidential candidates ever.
This is not a reflection on Obama; this is what America has become. It makes me wonder: With a population of over 300 million people, are these Republicans the best America has to offer?
I meet many people every day who love to discuss politics. However, the person who most affected me was a fifth-grade teacher. She recounted to me how she is teaching her class what the word “landslide” means and how to pronounce it. I told her I bought some Stacy Adams wingtips to celebrate the historic landslide we are about to witness.
I am not supporting Obama because he is black. I am supporting him because I am black. When he wins, we all win. Like a lot of Americans, I am tired of divisiveness and partisanship. We want to like one another and come to some sort of tolerance. Most Americans do not care about party affiliations, and they don’t like negative and personal attacks. You can say what you want about our president, but he never told women to put aspirin between their legs, never called a Republican a fascist for not compromising and never insulted right-wing evangelicals for not agreeing with him on everything. It is a
shame that the more rational Republicans do not have the stomach to silence the extremists in their party.
America is a center-right nation. I consider myself a moderate swingvoter. I believe in self-reliance, and I apply Christian principles to my life. I do not want to be dependent on food stamps or government handouts. I’m not a granola-eater or an activist out to save the snail darter.
However, I am an American—a black American—who has a right to choose who I want to lead me. When Republicans attack a president who won a free and fair election, when they question his integrity and say he isn’t American, they are not just disrespecting our president; they are disrespecting the institution of the presidency. When they question his patriotism or his faith, they insult me as an African American. That is disgraceful. The same is true when they try to destroy the democratic process by imposing voter ID laws and disrespecting women. That infuriates me.
This Election Day will be one for the ages. It will send a message to the tea party: Pack your suitcases and leave the keys on the table because we are going to change the locks in Washington on Nov. 7.
