The Fierce Urgency of 1 Week From Now

It has been 20 months and there are only 6 days left.

This week I have been reflecting upon the presidential election and eagerly anticipating November 4^th. Personally, this journey has been one filled with passion and a great deal of learning. Allow me to be nostalgic for just a moment…

In November of 2004, Deanna, Melissa and I celebrated Barack Obama’s Illinois Senate seat win in the basement of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago. The room was filled with excitement, and when Deanna and I went to congratulate this young, new Senator she said to him, “Senator Obama, you are going to be the next President!” Upon which I smacked her on the back and said “Dee, he just got elected, that is crazy.” Yeah, we will be telling our Grandkids that story someday!

In February of 2007, I celebrated Barack’s announcement that he was entering the Presidential race.  Shortly thereafter, Chad, Melissa and I attended a small rally in Union Station where Barack, Michelle, and Ari Gold talked casually about their vision for the upcoming campaign. What impressed me then, and continues to impress me now, is that the vision Barack Obama spoke of when he ran for Senate in 2004, when he addressed us in Union Station in 2007, and today is exactly the same: Inspiring Renewed Hope in our Communities & Enacting Positive Change. That vision had me at Hello.

I put up my Obama 08 sign in the front of our condo so long ago that now it is faded from the sun.  I watched every single debate- from the time when there were 10 people on stage to when there were only two. I laughed at the fantastic Tina Fey spoofs on SNL, the brilliantly edited hypocrisy on The Daily Show, and the candidate’s roasts at the Alfred E Smith dinner. I cried the first time that I watched the “Yes We Can” video mash-up, and when Michelle Obama gave her heartfelt speech during the DNC. I cringed at every hateful email forward and mailer, and each time that McCain said “my friends” and Sarah Palin winked at me. I logged hours of reading and writing about the issues; and during that time I realized my passion for spreading the truth and educating people on how to be well informed voters. Finally, I experienced a profound sense of belonging at Google when our leaders spoke out about social issues, get out the vote efforts, and supporting employees taking time off work to get involved in political campaigns.

What I observed in the past 20 months is a movement of inspiration and involvement that I find truly awesome. Yesterday, I had an experience that further underscored my admiration for this movement. I spoke on the phone with a man who is organizing a Get Out The Vote effort in Northern Indiana on election day. This man is a school teacher- who between classes, at night, and on the weekends is running a field office for Barack Obama in Indiana. His enthusiasm was palatable over the phone even as the noise of the end of the school day was evident in the background. He told me that last weekend his office had 80 volunteers who knocked on 5,000 doors. Immediately my brain started to multiply those numbers by hundreds of field offices and volunteers across Indiana and in others states. In that moment the fierce urgency of a Barack Obama victory struck me.

People who have never voted before are registered and voting early. Young people who have typically thought that politics were “uncool” are now talking to their parents and grandparents about Barack Obama and Climate Change. The Barack Obama campaign has managed to make getting involved cool. This in turn is making community service cool, environmental efforts cool, voting cool…you get the point. What has John McCain’s campaign made cool? Being a bully. And isn’t that what Washington and politics has always been about- the biggest bullies getting what they want?

A Barack Obama victory is fiercely urgent because I fear that a defeat would deflate this amazing 20-month long surge of Americans finally caring. A defeat would discourage people from getting involved in politics in the future and create an even larger divide between the classes and the races in our country. I also fear that a Barack Obama defeat would cause the international community to be affirmed in their misconceptions that Americans are a bunch of racist, egocentric, country-folk.  But the concept of the Fierce Urgency of Now is not about acting on fear; it is about acting on hope and believing in the greater good of people and potential of our country. 

So for the next 6 days, I will continue to Hope.