Notes On The Most Historic Election In Our Lifetime

There are many elements to a campaign. Leadership is number one. Everything else is number two. – Bertolt Brecht

There is no country in the history of the planet where a man, whose race was once considered the slave class, could just 230 years later become its elected leader — leader of the most powerful nation on earth, no less. That statement defines, legitimizes and empowers the presidency of Barack Obama and The Constitution upon which our democracy was founded. This election is biblical in its epic sweep.

I’m not sure where our nation is headed, but President-Elect Obama clearly speaks to a new segment of The United States. It is young, it is multi-racial, it is highly motivated. It leans left-of-center. I don’t believe that Mr. Obama, who ran a campaign based on change, can possibly know what those changes might be. Nobody knows. But keeping that new segment of the USA happy and engaged will be a very difficult task. I wish him luck. The changes that are coming will cross racial, social, religious and personal lines. There is lots of rage and anger on the part of the incoming Democratic Party. How will this get funneled into the non-partisanship that President-Elect Obama spoke of in his acceptance speech? I look forward to how he accomplishes that.

What was the seat of the Confederacy in the Civil War – Virginia – was the state that put Mr. Obama over the top with the electorate. I don’t find that ironic or coincidental. I find no small amount of closure in that.

John McCain is a good man. He fought the good fight. No Republican could have won this race. The fact that 47% of Americans voted for him is amazing in and of itself. Take away the financial fiasco, and Senator McCain might have had a chance.

Republicans have nobody but themselves to blame for this loss. Scandals in the House and the Senate; “earmarks” that even the most loyal GOP backer questions; very little good communication to minorities nationwide. The losers will have four years to lick their wounds, study the tape and make some significant adjustments.

Barack Obama did not really need a single campaign slogan or bullet point. He is that perfect commodity for all political parties: he looks, he acts, and he speaks like a leader. His speeches are perfectly presented, he engages his audience and he is believable. If that is true, if he is what he appears to be, then I am very positive about the future. Nothing will help the USA get through wars and a deep recession like a leader who exudes confidence, bi-partisanship and focus. He is unknown right now, so the best we can hope for is: “Please Mr. Obama – be who you appear to be.”

This was an election of fear and outrage. People voted for McCain because they feared things. They feared a black man in the presidency. They feared for their military, which had fought terrorism in the Middle East for the past five years, perhaps being called home before the job was complete. They feared Reverend Wright. And it was an election based on anger, a referendum on, and repudiation of, the past four years of the George W. Bush presidency. For this particular point in our history, anger trumped fear.

Barack Obama has a mandate. He has power, popularity and complete control. He can accomplish great things. I am hopeful he is the man that he appears to be.

Taylor Mason is a comedian, a musician, a ventriloquist and a writer (he can’t seem to hold a real job). He has headlined every major comedy club in the United States, and has played Carnegie Hall and The Sydney Opera House in Australia. He has been part of two Emmy-winning television programs, which include his children’s TV show, “Taylor’s Attic.” Taylor works a mind-boggling 200 nights a year, in front of every kind of audience, and has managed to stay married for the past 22 years to his wife, Marsia. They have two teen-aged sons and live in New Jersey (the only state in America that uses air freshener … outdoors).