Yesterday, Katy posted about her voting decision, including this:

• I didn’t vote for him because I’ve grown ever more fond of principles than I will ever again be fond of personalities.

To the whole post, Amen, Katy.

I felt through this whole election, before and after, that there was in some circles a rather overemphasis on the race issue despite the press about how much the Obama campaign tried to suppress that. Even though it didn't come up in many conversations at my office (perhaps it was not even the elephant in the room, most of the time), the post-election reaction has made it quite apparent that this was what was on many minds even if they didn't speak it in my presence. Did they feel like they couldn't? Most of those who didn't mention it during but have often since haven't known me for long enough to know of my absolute distaste for making racial issues larger than they could be, or of my own past experiences that lends credibility to my view. They have, perhaps, known me for long enough to see that I am the consistant in relation to race, that I speak professionally to Officers regardless of their color, and in working situations, and that I may speak informally (usually with a mix of Deep-Southern and ebonics as strong influences) in my down-time, but that the color make-up of the audience is not a factor in how I speak.

Anyway, I say all of this to say that his acceptance speach was very good, very moving. I agree wholeheartedly with Katy that he is a very charismatic speaker who can wrap most listeners into the moment and capture attention and appreciation with seeming ease. Because of a phone call (it was working hours here when ya'll were getting the official results), I missed the portion of the speech when he talked about the 106 year old woman who was determined to stay alive to see a black president elected. When one of my supervisors was telling me about this later (and was also talking about her mother being so very glad for the same reason), and then I received an e-mail -- from the base Equal-Opportuntiy Advisor of all people -- that showed simple characatures of each president, all the previous in the same beige-flesh-tone and then suddenly a dark characature at the end, with the caption being about how the voice of the American common man has spoken up for diversity..... when all of these things were happening, I still couldn't escape the overwhelming idea that perhaps we have brought ourselves our first black president in the same way that many people find their first spouses... jumping at the first decent option that comes along.

I am not saying that I don't think he will be a good president. As I mentioned that morning, I am not upset about not getting my ballot this year (although apart from the Presidential election, I'm not sure what else was on the Florida ballot this time around and would perhaps be more opinionated about those issues) because I feel pretty apathetic about the decision this time around. No clear winner and no clear loser for me. How he does as president, and how we shape up as a nation, will be determined in time regardless of how much promise he may hold now.

What I am saying is that if he was truly the far-and-away best candidate, I think the margin in the popular vote might have been a bit more dramatic. I think that the conversations would be less about race and more about policy and history.

But, since I don't think he was a worst candidate, either, or even a particularly bad one, I do join in the hope that his presidency will go well, that we will see many improvements in our nation and in the world. I do hope that it continues the constant search for reconciliation, but I will know it has succeeded when we stop having so many Firsts all the time. I'd like to see our presidential candidates have a race-free race. That is not to say that we won't relate to ethnic aspects of their personal heritage (just as we do to their religion or their family's countries-of-origin) but simply that it won't be such a primary factor for the majority. For example, my Irish heritage helps me appreciate a candidate who shares this heritage, but not all white candidates. His Kenyan heritage could be related to by fellow Kenyan-descendents, but not necessarily all of African descent. It's notable that the white side of his heritage is barely acknowledged, at least in what has reached us over here.

I have mentioned before that this country (where I am now) is a remarkable joining of races and cultures. I forget if I have ever mentioned that, as with many or most other regions, there is also a certain elitist thinking among many of the locals, especially in their perspective of certain other nationalities who have more often filled a servant or laboror role within society here. It gets a little bit deeper than I think I could (or am ready to) express on here, but it has been interesting to become aware of and able to understand exactly what the different ideas are about various local/regional countries (even those at the top of the elitism tiers) and how many of them view the other surrounding countries. This mentality has made this election very interesting from a different perspective than I would have had if I had been living in the States during it, from much more of a world-view than I could have possibly had if I weren't here during it.

Here's to democracy, here's to reconciliation and to diversity, here's to overcoming, truly overcoming.