obama

I still find it hard to put into words what the election of Obama means to me. I had the opportunity to work on his election in my home state and work with one of the groups that helped turn Virginia blue for the first time in 44 years. My job description was basically "cover the labor movement's involvement in this election." I got to interview dozens and dozens of labor leaders and union members, some politicians, record some of the best speeches I've ever heard, go to a few great events and was basically given the chance to feel incredibly close to the process. Now I'm still trying to process it all.

I've read and watched a ton of stuff from others who are trying to make sense of this election. It seems most are trying to divide up the country into demos that clearly were united in their support of Barack Obama.

I'm too young to remember any of the Kennedys but their mythology formed a fundamental piece of my political ideals. Max Kennedy's speech (below) and the footage of RFK along side footage of Obama cements the connection between the two legacies that many see.



I think the speech also gives credence to all the people who were involved in this election. The media is trying to undermine that by focusing on the campaigns that each candidate ran in the media. The Obama campaign, of course, was remarkable. But I think Obama got it right in his convention speech, "something is stirring in America." Obama's campaign was able to bring in those millions of people who were stirring and starving to take ownership of their country and feel like they could get involved to create change.