The phrase “Where were you when _______?” must certainly apply to this past week of political happenings. At first it seemed that whether Hillary or Obama won the Democratic nomination, we had already shattered political barriers. The spice that Obama offers our tired politics seemed en fuego compared to traditional McCain. But then, from left field, McCain struck back! Unless there is some third party miracle, we will definitely have an unprecedented Executive Office: either our first African American President or our first female Vice President. And the timing of it all, is so poetic. Can’t you just picture God poking Dr. King in the arm, grinning, saying, “See? And you didn’t think much was going to come of your efforts. See? Aren’t you glad you trusted me?” And Dr. King would be dancing and laughing for how his dream has reached past us today and has paved a road into our future.
In this glistening moment of breaking history, I can’t help but feel a little shame too. Maybe my ears just haven’t been open enough in the past, but I don’t recall ever hearing such a dirty election. It seems that in all of our ground-breaking movement, we Americans let our integrity shake right out from under our feet. These campaigns have been targeting the character and capability of the adversaries much more than should be needed to sell a candidate. Do they have nothing good to offer about themselves that they cannot do without also bashing their opponents?
What’s even worse than these presidential candidates leading us into this ugly political fist-fight is that we the people cheer them on. Obama reached his highest applause last night when he was lambasting McCain. One commentator even said that the crowd was hungry for it. When did we lose our civility and decency in the pursuit of the good of our nation and trade it in for savage character attacks? Why can we not focus on real issues without having our candidates’ personal beef treated as an urgent issue?
In the glamor of new history, is it possible we have let go of the very decency that our history has always prided itself on?
