In February of 2007, I
took a bus to the Old State Capitol in Springfield, to witness Senator
Obama formally kick-off his campaign in the spot where President
Lincoln once spoke of a house divided. In front of me stood a handsome
woman with perfect hair and a fur coat (who unknowingly blocked the
bitter wind). Behind me was a man in a service station uniform who
smelled of motor oil and long hours. On my right was an iPodded young
woman who was likely voting in her first election, and to my left, a
Republican State legislator who smiled when he noticed me noticing
him.
I was standing in the center of the Obama campaign.
You rarely witness that kind of cross-section - people of "all
walks," as my grandmother would have said - standing shoulder to
shoulder, looking in the same direction. You see it occasionally in
airports. Or at the DMV, where social or economic status doesn't get
you a better place in line. But you don't tend to see it voluntarily on
a nearly sub-zero day in Springfield. It could have been summer
though, and I still would have had chills; something remarkable was
happening.
You rarely witness that kind of cross-section - people of "all walks" - because they so
rarely have anything in common, until now. What I saw that day was a
glimpse into the rest of Senator Obama's campaign. On that bitter cold
day, each person in my small unlikely circle had his or her own set of
unique challenges and craved a fundamental change from recent history.
Maybe the young woman wanted to know that this new administration would
take a pragmatic approach to climate change. Maybe the fancy lady
bought that coat in the '90s, when she was in a more confident
financial position, and wanted to know now that her grandchildren would
have access to affordable healthcare. Maybe the mechanic, who likely
makes less than $250,000 a year, wanted middle-class tax relief. And
maybe the Republican State legislator, who has spent plenty of literal
and figurative cold days in Springfield, wanted a leader who would
pierce through the divisiveness and remind us of our common ground.
They came for different types of change, and it seems clear to me
that Barack Obama managed to answer each of their calls directly.
