“They said this day would never come” were the words that rang through my ears after 21 months, 50-something contests, 20 some-odd debates, millions of dollars, thousands of miles and millions of voices gave their opinion in one of the most hotly contested and prolonged election cycles in American history.
It was four years ago at the Democratic Convention that I received my first glimpse of the now president-elect, then running for a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois and showing the promise, freshness, intellect and eloquence that had yet to be tested and were soon to catapult him into national stardom. While listening to the then 43-year-old state lawmaker hailing from the South Side of Chicago, I saw an earnest and yet-to-be-battle-tested man whose words were electrifying and instantly appealing to millions. While his face showed youthfulness and his words at times naivete, he was a man who displayed the ingredients and temperament to be a future commander in chief, yet who needed time to accumulate the wisdom and knowledge required to handle the job. Through the unforeseen events that have since unfolded, he has realized the enormous tasks ahead as president, which have brought out the best qualities to be had in a senator, given his tranquil, level-headed and conciliatory demeanor.
While he has grown more gray hairs over the past two years, he displays not just the wear and tear of the campaign, but the look of someone who has internalized millions of voices, someone who has allowed himself to become a part of us. This was a man who humbly yet hopefully worked his way to the pinnacle of politics, not by relying on the capricious luck of his circumstances, but by of his own hard work and intelligence. After reading “Dreams from My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope,” I have come to see him as not just a U.S. senator, a presidential candidate and now president-elect, but as the very good friend I never had a chance to meet. While reading both of his books, I saw someone who shared many of the same skepticism, excitements, frustrations and curiosities about the world around us, and that of our very selves. He was someone who asked me to work on behalf of my country and not have my country work on behalf of me, inspiring me to create the change I believe in by pursuing a career in Washington.
But if there is one thing we have learned over the past nearly two years, it is that we do not know what we can and cannot do. We have come full circle in discovering that the American Dream is not restricted by the circumstances of our birth, but by the smallness of our ambitions and ideals, none of which, I think, for the most part, were on display during this campaign. As basic and simple as it sounds, if we remain true to our ideals and follow in earnest what we value, then yes, yes indeed, we can too.