Building a Bridge

Congratulations to President-Elect Barrack Obama. This year's presidential election is the 16th in my lifetime. Granted, in my first election in 1952 I was only two years old, so my memory of that historic moment is a bit fuzzy. Perhaps non-existent would be a better word. Despite that, in all the years since then, I cannot recall ever witnessing a greater outpouring of genuine joy over the selection of a new president than what we have been seeing these past few days. It has been amazing and wonderful and uplifting. And all this has not just been happening here in the United States. Much of the celebration has been taking place throughout the world. The last time I saw this amount of unbridled joy was with the Ewoks when the evil empire was vanquished in one of the Star Wars movies.

Seriously, much can taken from from the reactions we are seeing and reading about now. But one point that strikes me is that it reveals a deep connection between men and women exists that has largely been overlooked these past eight years. People want openness and honesty from their leaders. People want leaders who genuinely care about their well being. People want leaders who are working for the greater good of mankind. If any of this has existed here in the U.S. these past eight years, then the celebrating we are now witnessing strongly suggests that it has not been demonstrated or communicated very well. In Obama, people sense these qualities. In Obama, they sense a man more interested in building bridges than tearing them down.
As a result, literally millions of people throughout the world are jumping for joy because of the hope they feel and see.

As America's new communicator-in-chief, time will tell how well Obama lives up to the expectations that are now being placed upon him. But so long as he continues to communicate in an honest, open and sincere manner, then the people will follow for all the right reasons.
They recognize he is not perfect. They are aware his ideas and policies may not always work as well as they are designed. But in this singular individual, they also identify a growing leader with the best of intentions to do well for the many - rich and poor - and not just a few. If nothing else, we are all off to a good start.