BRINGING OUR DEMOCRACY BACK INTO BALANCE
Why remembering the historic 2008 presidential election should compel us to do the unfathomable and unimaginable yet again in 2024
The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every year is Election Day in the United States of America. And today is the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2023. What happened 15 years ago on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2008 should definitely not be forgotten. In my opinion, we need to remember it now more than ever and harness the strength that led to such a historic moment back then to bring our national values back into proper balance as we come upon the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2024.
Hear me out…
But first let me say at the outset that I didn’t have the date of this 15-year anniversary marked on my calendar or etched in my memory. I was reminded of this day as a result of scrolling through YouTube and seeing a thumbnail of former First Lady Michelle Obama speaking at the 2023 Obama Foundation Democracy Forum. It was a bit of a startling reminder because with all the craziness that has ensued in the last 7 years this day would’ve gone by like any other day had I not been reminded of this historic feat and that bothered me. Hence this post.
I listened to Mrs. Obama recall that evening and I began to recall what that day was like for me as well. Again hear me out and I will tie it all together. I promise…
It was the second day of my new job after moving to Virginia. I moved there from Michigan just a few days prior. Upon realizing that I would no longer live in Michigan come Election Day and that there wouldn’t be enough time for me to register to vote in Virginia, I made it a priority to obtain my absentee ballot and turn it in promptly before relocating. So on Election Day, I didn’t have to prioritize getting to the polls to vote in person. Election Day was a pleasant day. My new colleagues were just as excited about the day and I remember thinking how great it was that I was among people that didn’t look like me but were just as excited as me.
That evening my prayer was that we would know the results of the election before going to bed. I must admit that it was partly a selfish prayer because sleep is important to me and I really didn’t want to stay up late watching the results come in. It was also a sincere prayer in that I knew that decisive victory would speak volumes. Thankfully, at exactly 11pm EST the race was called for the first African American president-elect of the United States of America with an electoral college win of 365 to 173. Pretty decisive if you ask me.
Even though I thought I would roll over and go to sleep, I started to wish I was back in my hometown of Gary, Indiana so that I could take the 30-minute drive over to Chicago and be in Grant Park with everyone to celebrate. I found myself calling family and friends. I remember my then 12-year old niece answering the phone saying, “We did it. We won!” I remember my other niece, then 6 years old talking about Michelle Obama visiting her school earlier in the campaign. I remember Senator McCain’s gracious concession speech. I remember President-elect Obama saying, “On this day, change has come to America.” Watch below for your own nostalgia and inspiration. Fast forward to 4:15 for the exact quote I just mentioned.
I recall volunteering for the campaign my last few months in Michigan. Something I never imagined doing. I wasn’t employed at the time and I found myself very intrigued with the campaign. So I decided to volunteer and thankfully the area I lived in was rather organized. I could simply jump right in and help out with making calls and canvassing neighborhoods. I went to debate watch parties with total strangers. Again something me and my introverted self would never imagine doing.
The day after the election I recall everyone, for the most part, being upbeat and happy. I say for the most part because I was in southwest Virginia after all. Read on to contrast my experience the day after the 2016 election.
I remember committing to follow the Obama administration closely and take in as many first hand accounts as possible because I wanted to see how the nation and our leaders responded to him. Because any time there is a first to integrate an institution, everybody pays attention and has something to say. I also recall the 2008 presidential campaign becoming a faith tipping point for me. Leading up to 2008, I had been grappling with what I had come to believe with respect to my Christian faith. When I observed the not-so Christian response during the campaign from those that professed to be Christians, it solidified my decision to take a break from the church and the Bible, two things that had been very central to my adult life up until that point. So it can be said that the 2008 presidential election facilitated several unimaginable turning points in my life.
But let me stop before I exhaust you with my trip down memory lane and get into the crux of why we shouldn’t allow all that has ensued since the end of the Obama administration to nullify what the nation accomplished 15 years ago. I’m not admonishing us to remember to merely protect the legacy of the Obamas. Nor am I under any illusion that the Obama administration governed perfectly. The fact that he was elected and re-elected four years later as the first black president is already cemented in history. So I’m not trying to protect that either.
What I am trying to convey is that in 2008 the nation did the unfathomable and the unimaginable. And in my humble opinion, what we accomplished was good for the country. It didn’t heal all of our racial ills, but the quest to achieve this historical feat was honorable, awakened new possibilities and demonstrated our ability to bring about the change we seek.
Indeed change had come to America, not just in the form this new leader, but in what it took to elect that new leader.
It was such a grand moment, that no one could have told me that eight years later that we would experience again, the unfathomable and unimaginable, but not in a good way. In that grand 2008 moment, no one could have told me that eight years later on the day after the 2016 election, that I would be hugging and consoling colleagues because of the devastation and heaviness we felt. In that grand 2008 moment, no one could have told me that the Sunday after the 2016 presidential election that I would be on the hunt for a church service that would lift the heaviness I felt. (Thankfully I found one). In that grand moment, no one could have told me that we would continue to experience the unfathomable and unimaginable from January 20, 2017 to present day as our elected and formerly elected officials would introduce us to new low after new low.
And now that we are one year out from the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2024, it’s still not clear if we will pass the national stress tests that are before us. We need to remember what was accomplished in 2008 because we are now called upon to do the unfathomable and unimaginable again. Only this time instead of making an historic choice that made our democracy shine brighter, we are called upon to ensure that the light of our democracy is not extinguished.
Onward to Harmonious Balance,
Johanna
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