WASHINGTON WATCH Kathy Lee
Hard Work Ahead I am writing this just three days after the historic election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States, although many of you will be reading it just before, or even after, his inauguration on January 20, 2009. As a Christian who happens to be, among other things, a political science professor at a Christian university and a Democrat, my mind is reeling and probably will continue to do so for some time. This long election has been a roller coaster of emotions, and my next sabbatical project will simply be labeled “to recover from 2008.” Surely the university administration will be sympathetic to my trekking to a New Mexico monastery where I will receive no newspapers, watch no CNN, forsake a daily check of RealClearPolitics.com, and simply read the desert fathers and mothers. But right now I must gather my thoughts, and I begin with what I celebrate. Perhaps November 4, 2008, will be one of those moments when many of us will remember where we were when we heard that the son of a Kenyan immigrant and a white woman from Kansas would be the 44th president of the United States.Too many times it seems that tragedies, not celebrations, are historical markers for us—assassinations of presidents and political leaders, the Challenger explosion, and 9/11 come to mind. No matter whom one voted for, we can celebrate this historic moment of racial reconciliation.Watching the tears on Jesse Jackson’s face and listening to Rep. John L. Lewis, both who served on the frontlines of the civil rights movement, moved me to tears. The morning after the election a black colleague cried and hugged me, telling me that on the way to work a white man had pulled up beside her in a car and motioned for her to roll down her car window. She wondered what might be
wrong, maybe a taillight was out.The man told her that he had voted for McCain but, seeing her Obama bumper sticker, wanted to congratulate her and said,“He’s a good man.” In class a black student amused us all by recounting his speeding through the streets of Philadelphia, making it to the polling place just moments before it closed at 8 p.m. Using his persuasive skills, he told the exhausted poll worker who was ready to pack it in, “But this is for my mother!” The poll worker begrudgingly let him vote. I have been teaching for over 25 years, and never before have I witnessed such engagement by young people. Eastern University extended invitations to both campaigns to send candidates or surrogates to campus—only Sen. Obama’s campaign responded, sending Don Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, a book that is required in one of our first-year courses, Introduction to Faith, Reason, and Justice. According to a November 7 New York Times article, 32 percent of young evangelicals between 18 and 29 voted for Obama, a doubling of the percentage for Sen. Kerry in 2004. This was borne out in my introductory course in American government, where students voted 28-7 for Obama the day before the election. One wonders whether this demographic group will continue to stay politically engaged. I pray that it does. I celebrate the grace we witnessed in Sen. John McCain when, in his concession speech, he said,“I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him [Sen. Obama], but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.” Sen. McCain is a public servant of the highest order. But my celebration of this election is PRISM 2009
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tempered. Sen. Obama soberly reminded us in his acceptance speech of the daunting challenges ahead and called upon us to “sacrifice”— a word that should have been used much more frequently by both candidates during the campaign. Too often we think as Americans we can have it all — low taxes and a working infrastructure, low gas prices and energy independence. I was distressed when Dr. Dobson posted on the CitizenLink.org website a letter titled “Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America,” a fictitious letter describing terrible things that would be instituted by an Obama administration. To his credit, Jim Wallis quickly responded, asking Dobson to apologize.Why did Christians forward emails to other Christians that stated misrepresentations such as that he is Muslim, that he is not a US citizen, and, most outrageous of all, that he is the Antichrist? Demagoguery masking itself as Christian witness is no witness at all. My celebration is also tempered by fear for the poor in this country who were already struggling before the economic tsunami hit in September. Neither presidential candidate mentioned the poor in a single debate; the focus was entirely on the middle class. In 2007, in Louisville, Ky., 58,000 school children came from families whose income was low enough that they qualified for reduced-price or free meals under the National School Lunch Program. The total number of Louisville school children qualifying in 2008 was expected to reach 62,000. It is never a good time to be poor; right now it is even worse. The celebration will end; much hard work lies ahead.We must “keep on keepin’ on,” doing the work of the kingdom of God. ★ Kathy Lee is a professor of political science and a department chair at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pa. She is recovering from the election by listening to her favorite singing group du jour, the Carolina Chocolate Drops.