Yesterday President Obama was re-elected for a second term with a commanding electoral majority, and today my first impulse is to breath a sigh of relief that the election is over. For many months, the blood pressure of the nation has been high. I can personally attest to the toll its taken on relationships in my own life. The ever-more divided electorate, the non-stop news cycle and unfettered social networking have created a heated atmosphere that I, for one, am looking forward to leaving behind.
But then I think back to 2008, and I remember the immense sense of hope that I and many others had. The tears shed, the dancing in the street... and how quickly that was replaced with a false sense of relief and security - the idea that we'd done the job, that we'd accomplished our mission, and now it was okay to get back to "real life". After all, we weren't professional politicians. We had normal jobs, and other dreams to chase. We elected the politician. We gave him the reins and we expected him to drive us exactly where we wanted to go, but without telling him where that was.
Out of naivete, self-interest or perhaps just plain human nature, we went back to our daily lives and left the job of communicating to our leaders to the old army of lobbyists, corporate interests or at best political coalitions of aggregated voices. I personally didn't project my own voice any larger than my own facebook bubble, a work-place break room or a family dinner table, and if I heard opinions expressed in the media by others that matched closely enough to mine, I figured I was being spoken for.
But I believe we each have more innate power and potential than to just be a nodding head in a sea of nodding heads, or a regurgitating head in a sea of regurgitation (I know, the visual is repellent). I believe that our own unique voices, our own unique perspectives, told from a place of honesty have the power to affect change for the people who hear them - including potentially, elected officials.
So this time, for my small part, I am beginning a series of letters to the president - hopefully earnest, personal, heartfelt letters to tell him where I hope he can take our country, to tell him the things I hope he can do for our country, and to remind him of some of the promises he's made that I and many others hope he will keep.
In 2008 I was relatively new to the job of being an active and thoughtful democratic participant, so I give myself a break for not doing this four years ago. Likewise Obama was new to a difficult job, so I give him some breaks for not being able to accomplish everything he intended or promised in less than four years. But the time to hold him accountable is today - if there was ever a time, it is now. Millions of people said with their votes yesterday that they believe in what Obama wants for our country, and that they are willing to give him more time to do it, however I cannot expect him to carry the torch alone, and neither should anyone else.
If I have a lofty goal for this site, it is to encourage others to write to the their own letters, and perhaps become a curated clearinghouse of thoughtful, heartfelt and genuine letters to our President and our other leaders from real, earnest Americans.
My first letter to the President soon to come:
