Four More Years…

Almost a week has passed since this years election, and I am still happy about it.

Going into Tuesday, I was nervous, anxious, but optimistic. I had a feeling that the President would be re-elected, but part of me knew that Romney wouldn’t go quietly. I prepared for a long night, a drawn out decision to be made, and was very surprised when the race was called so early. As polls started to close in the east, I felt my nerves grow as Romney took a lead, but I knew the states that were going his way, were projected to do so, and kept the dark thoughts at bay. This became easier to do as the states started to fill in blue on the map.

I watched the election coverage on MSNBC, and had a www.huffingtonpost.com map open on my computer so that I could track the vote as it came in. I was reminded of how fun these elections are to watch. They almost take on the feeling of a sporting event for me, albeit with much more important results. I listened to the pundits talk about what was going on, calling states as the hours progressed, and chiming in on what was happening in detail and also in a broader scope.

My mood lifted and the smile took it’s place on my face as more and more states closed and went to President Obama. The things I wanted to happen, were beginning to do just that. Once the race for President was called, and we waited for a concession speech from Romney, and the President’s speech, I could turn my focus to Montana’s races. This is where I was worried, the Senate race had been so close all year, that I did not know what would happen, but I knew I wanted Tester re-elected. Unfortunately the late poll closing forced me to go to sleep before I knew how my state had went, but it was nice to wake up and see that Tester was going back to Washington, and our Governor was going to continue being a Democrat. A political Christmas if you will.

Drama ensued once channel after channel called Ohio for Obama, it was done, over 270 electoral college votes, this election was in the books…but what’s that? Fox News, something I joke about a lot, took it to a whole new level. The number crunchers for the channel called Ohio, and they acknowledged our President’s victory, but not everybody was ready to do so. Karl Rove sat on air, refusing to believe that Ohio was done for the year, and it’s no wonder that he was shell shocked, his groups had put over 300 million dollars into advertising and support for Republican candidates. His meltdown continued into the following days, and he has become almost a caricature of himself.

This wasn’t the only drama that brought itself to the forefront, no, social media was good for making us aware of this. People were seemingly losing their minds right in front of us, the most vocal being the famous. These people railed about American being dead, the soulless had won, and even said that the world was laughing at us. Now I would have been scared and disappointed if Romney had been elected, but I never would have said such things about this country of mine, and I never would have besmirched Romney’s character like so many people were beginning to do.

I did not like having W as a President, but I never though that I should say anything bad about my country, I never thought to say anything bad about those that had elected him, because I understood why they did it. I knew the factors that W had working for him, and he knew how to take advantage of them and to get where he wanted to go. I had opinions on his actions, but I never threatened to move to another country. Hell, I started planning a move to another country under Obama’s watch, and that hasn’t changed at all.

The truly scary and despicable thing about this election, is the amount of racism and hatred that it has brought into the forefront of our consciousness. At the same time, maybe it is a good thing. Maybe it is a good thing that these people show their true selves to the world. Maybe there is a teachable moment in this. Maybe others will see that racism and hatred are indeed a problem in today’s America. Maybe we will see these things and react as we should. Maybe we can do more than shake our heads, maybe we can stand up and speak back. Maybe we can continue to move forward.

My optimism for this country is through the roof after this election, and it isn’t only because of our President’s reelection, but because of everything else that happened. We have 19 women in the Senate now, the most there has ever been. Wisconsin elected an openly gay woman. Four states chimed in on marriage equality, and showed that we can accept these couples and their love, accept and encourage. Two states even legalized recreational use of marijuana, something that surprised me, but shows me that there are those among us that are forward thinkers. All of these things show that we are forward thinkers, actually, and they show that we can be progressive like we should be.

It is 2012, the world is evolving, it is learning, it is accepting, and I am glad to see that we are starting to catch up with it all.

There are so many positive things that have come about because of this election, yet some of us are so distraught and refuse to see this fact. Some of us are so worried that the end is nigh, simply because we choose to be accepting of one another, in a manner that we never have been before.

This world is a bright and shiny realm of opportunity, yet all too often we look at the shadows cast by the positive changes, we look into the dirt and dust left behind by movement in a forward direction, and we get caught up in the negatives that we find.

There are many on the right that are currently speaking of the negatives of Obamacare and what will happen because of it, planning layoffs, etc. Their actions are based on things that may or may not happen, costs that may or may not sky rocket. These things may happen, but that is no reason to be preemptive about your actions. Obamacare is something that had to happen, it had to happen because too many of us lived in a world where we feared getting sick, we feared our preexisting symptoms being terms for our insurance to be dropped, we feared the crippling debt incurred by uninsured medical treatment. No one in today’s America should have to fear going to the doctor and receiving treatment, that is NOT something that should ever happen. At the same time, I truly believe that none of us should sit back and accept an America where all of us cannot be treated equally when it comes to medical issues. Compassion should be at the forefront of our emotional spectrum, and it will always be at mine.

I hope that when the dust settles and we can see around us more clearly, that we will look at the changes taking place, look at them from all sides before we jump to a conclusion. Look at what is happening, look at what is being attempted, look and see, see and ask, ask and learn!

There are so many, many, many reasons to be optimistic about the future of our country, and the future of the world, but too many of us simply see the fight that will occur. Too many of us only see how we are affected. Too many of us put blinders on and our head down, and that’s how we wind up somewhere we didn’t expect and have no idea how to get back from. At times like that, times when we are lost, or feel like we are in over our heads, that is when it is important for us to lift our heads, shake the blinders off, and look around. Look around and decide where to go from there.

We don’t always need to find the way back to where we were, but rather, we need to find the way to where we want to go.

The path ahead of us is filled with twists and turns, some we will see coming, some we will not be prepared for, but what is important is that we continue to work, continue to adapt, continue to move.

I am truly happy that President Obama has been giving a chance to continue the work he has been doing, work that I support and encourage. I am happy that he can leave a legacy, that he can prove his leadership skills, and that he can show us all what he is capable of.

I am optimistic about the future of America, and I have this election to thank for that.