Spring Break
Parties need to unite under Obama's banner
by Michael Perloff
Op-Ed | 11/11/08
Posted online at 3:26 AM EST on 11/11/08
I will never forget last Tuesday night. I watched the election in the Shapiro Campus Center, surrounded by hundreds of Brandeisians who shared my enthusiasm for Barack Obama. While I felt a great sense of unity that night, I realize that this election could leave many feeling excluded. I now realize that in order to fulfill Obama's vision of unity, we, his supporters, need to learn from the Republicans' mistakes over the last eight years. We need to be open to people who disagree with us.
Last Tuesday, I felt like I was part of something bigger than myself. We cheered each time Obama won a state and exploded when CNN finally called the election for him. We jumped out of our seats. We screamed and hugged strangers. One girl pressed herself against a wall and cried tears of joy.
Through our common ecstasy, I felt linked with the majority of the people in Shapiro. We all believed in Obama. Obama has talked throughout his campaign about the importance of "this moment" in history. Last Tuesday night was our moment to feel a sense of unity and excitement over the election of our guy.
But the unity only ran so far. To me, the Republicans in Shapiro had no reason to see this as their moment and no reason to feel linked with the rest of us. To me, the Republicans at Shapiro seemed amused by their predicament. One carried a McCain-Palin flag around the center after Obama won.
But for the conservatives who don't go to Brandeis, being out of power is something new. Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary explained to ABC news: "We're going to have some real days of disappointment. … We're going to find ourselves in a situation where our voice is not going to have the kind of resonance that it once had in Washington."
There are a lot of people out there who will share this disappointment. Obama only won the popular vote by seven percentage points. While this margin is significant, it leaves a large segment of the population disappointed.
Last Tuesday, I felt like I was part of something bigger than myself. We cheered each time Obama won a state and exploded when CNN finally called the election for him. We jumped out of our seats. We screamed and hugged strangers. One girl pressed herself against a wall and cried tears of joy.
Through our common ecstasy, I felt linked with the majority of the people in Shapiro. We all believed in Obama. Obama has talked throughout his campaign about the importance of "this moment" in history. Last Tuesday night was our moment to feel a sense of unity and excitement over the election of our guy.
But the unity only ran so far. To me, the Republicans in Shapiro had no reason to see this as their moment and no reason to feel linked with the rest of us. To me, the Republicans at Shapiro seemed amused by their predicament. One carried a McCain-Palin flag around the center after Obama won.
But for the conservatives who don't go to Brandeis, being out of power is something new. Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary explained to ABC news: "We're going to have some real days of disappointment. … We're going to find ourselves in a situation where our voice is not going to have the kind of resonance that it once had in Washington."
There are a lot of people out there who will share this disappointment. Obama only won the popular vote by seven percentage points. While this margin is significant, it leaves a large segment of the population disappointed.
Be the first to comment on this story