The audacity of an election

Some hours ago, America made a step towards living its creed - it elected its first African-American president. It was an election journey which was marked with discussions & debates that conjured several motifs.

At some point, it seem as a struggle for the epic soul of a nation asking the questions, do we cling to the vestige of the past spurring a vision of what was good before or do we try the untested waters? Was a man disqualified from public office because of his inability to defend the rights of the unborn child? Do the mistakes of the past beguile a man from becoming a success in the future?

The campaign oscillated from the promotion of the next big rock star to the aggrandizing promotion of the messianic answer to every imaginable question.
It doesn't take much imagination to know that Obama has his work cut out for him. His "victory speech" was a mellowed confession of a man who understands that the weight of history is upon him. To borrow a line from Chris Rock movie, head of state where an African-American sought to become president of America, "if I quit there may never be another black man in forty years, I represent my race"

Obama will find winning the election easier than being president. Campaigns are measured by promises & a fine display of oratory eloquence; presidencies are measured by the value of life the citizens enjoy.
He will weighed on scales and I hope he is not found wanting at the end

But for now, the world basks in the euphoria of America finally living up to its creed that all men are equal.
Finally, Martin Luther King may smile in the grave - one day my children will be judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.