Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Many of the Barack Obama supporters who knocked on doors, phoned, registered and chauffeured voters in the heart of Bush Country the past several months say they hope their man first addresses the economy, then health care and energy policies.
But some conceded, even while celebrating Obama’s victory Tuesday night at local Democratic Party headquarters, that they may have other work cut out for them: Trying to reassure Central Texas neighbors that Obama isn’t going to destroy the United States.
Some voting for the Grand Old Party this fall have certainly acted as if the sky is falling. Incendiary rhetoric didn’t help.
A few weeks ago I spent a half-hour talking with a pleasant but distraught Crawford man in his 70s who feared for his nation if Obama won the presidency.
And a woman wrote a letter to the editor, praying that God would intercede on behalf of the country, if only to keep Obama out of the White House.
Sadly, they’re not the only ones I’ve found fearful.
But none of the people I saw celebrating Obama’s victory Tuesday night looked very socialist to me. And they certainly didn’t look like terrorists.
Just looked like Americans.
“I’m sorry some people are feeling so afraid, but I think that’s a product of the Bush administration and this culture of fear they’ve bred the last eight years,” 41-year-old freelance writer Franci Rogers told me. “Fortunately, I think people are ready to trade fear for hope.”
Christine Banks, 68, a retiree who says she once voted for George H.W. Bush, dismisses talk of Obama’s being a socialist, a terrorist and a Muslim.
“I prefer truth and hope and love,” she said between sips of white wine. “Anyone who can run the sort of campaign he has and come from the sort of people he has deserves more consideration.”
She notes, for instance, the inner strength and discipline Obama’s mother displayed.
“Anyone who gets her son up at 4 a.m. so they can go over his school lessons is all right in my book,” she said, citing an anecdote in Obama’s biography.
Travis Hobbs, 21, a Baylor University student who has led efforts to get students to vote for Obama, said some attacks are easily dashed if people are at least open-minded. For instance, whatever else, arguments that Obama is a Muslim don’t square if you also buy into the Jeremiah Wright controversy.
“It just doesn’t make sense to attack him as a Muslim and a radical Christian,” Hobbs said.
Yet a poll issued just before Halloween and conducted in part by the University of Texas in Austin suggests 23 percent of all registered voters in Texas believe Obama is Muslim.
Maybe that’s why one Obama supporter wore a T-shirt Tuesday night that read: “Texas politics: Not for the squeamish.”
Others said they just hoped their neighbors would view Obama’s victory as a definitive chapter in America’s troubled history of race, closing the book on an era of slavery and discrimination.
Max Blevins, 61, who is black and told me he grew up in Birmingham and remembers Martin Luther King Jr. and the Ku Klux Klan, said Obama’s example should spur the next generation of youths to aspire to lives of consequence, no matter what their color.
‘The thing that most excites me is seeing America finally living up to being America,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Obama supporters outfitted a couple of trucks with loudspeakers and dispatched them into the area to urge voters to the polls. At 5, having done all they could, they grabbed signs and marched around headquarters at Bosque Boulevard and North 34th Street, catching the attention of motorists.
Tuesday night, however, was time to celebrate. A couple hundred supporters got their photos taken alongside a lifesize Obama cutout, watched returns on CNN and played Election Day bingo, based on key words uttered by TV commentators like “change” and “polls.”
Now if they can just get others to somehow understand their all-American joy.
Comments
By Bill Whitaker
Nov 7, 2008 9:48 AM | Link to this
Bill Whitaker responds: Yes, BDDH, I too was impressed with President Bush's speech urging all Americans to rally behind our leadership and pave the way for a smooth White House transition. And, for the record, all Americans did rally around President Bush after the 9/11 attacks. Hopefully we'll do the same in this economic crisis.
Regarding Bob's question about what terrorists look like: Well, I guess I think of those airport videos of the 9/11 terrorists' humorless faces and intent eyes as they boarded. What I saw at the Obama victory party were all races, all ages -- some of them overweight, some unkempt, all laughing and reveling in being Americans and seeing their candidates win. Heck, even the Republicans I saw on Chris Oliver's video were having a swell time, celebrating the victory Republicans had in Waco and across much of the state, whatever the presidential race.
And, to refer you to my column, I doubt many terrorists would have been playing Election Day bingo!
By BDDH
Nov 6, 2008 5:43 PM | Link to this
Sorry, Bob, but I don't think the comment about the "culture of fear" and the divisiveness began with Pelosi and friends. It began with Gingrich when he said the GOP had not been aggressive enough, so he proceeded to make up for it. Then when Rove and Roger Ailes began to plan the politics of their party, THAT's when the culture of hatred and fear began.
I hope the remaining members of the GOP will listen to GWB. I was impressed by his speech today. He seems to really want the transition to be smooth. I just hope some of his "people" don't step in and try to change his mind.
Can you imagine the past 8 years with this kind of access?
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The story of the campaign and this historic moment has been your story. Share your story and your ideas, and be part of bringing positive lasting change to this country.
http://www.change.gov/
By bob
Nov 6, 2008 3:09 PM | Link to this
Before the election James Carville suggested that if Obama lost that their would be riots and others reported that the streets would run with blood.
But now that he has won those who did not support him are not even allowed to be apprehensive about the election an unqualified and inexperienced candidate.
What exactly does a socialist or a terrorist look like? If Bill has some way of determining this by just looking at people he should contact homeland security and share it with them.
"...thatıs a product of the Bush administration and this culture of fear theyıve bred the last eight years"
If I hear or read one more comment like this I am going to scream! The hate and fear for the last eight years are coming from the left. Nancy Pelosi can't open her mouth without spewing hatred.
But I want to be fair, so I will give Barack Obama the exact same level of support and respect that President Bush has received for the last eight years.
By bob
Nov 6, 2008 3:07 PM | Link to this
Before the election James Carville suggested that if Obama lost that their would be riots and others reported that the streets would run with blood.
But now that he has won those who did not support him are not even allowed to be apprehensive about the election an unqualified and inexperienced candidate.
What exactly does a socialist or a terrorist look like? If Bill has some way of detemine this by just looking at people he should contact homeland security and share it with them.
"...thatıs a product of the Bush administration and this culture of fear theyıve bred the last eight years"
If I hear or read one more comment like this I am going to scream! The hate and fear for the last eight years are coming from the left. Nancy Pelosi can't open her mouth without spewing hatred.
But I want to be fair, so I will give Barack Obama the exact same level of support and respect that President Bush has received for the last eight years.
By BDDH
Nov 6, 2008 11:07 AM | Link to this
Yes, I had hoped the members of the GOP would just relax and enjoy what was accomplished by having Obama so well elected. Even they should have been proud of our country for what Obama was able to accomplish. His win is a win for all of us. I have read some stories of how even crowds in other countries helped us to celebrate -- claiming that "it's cool to be American" again. How refreshing!
By Bill Whitaker
Nov 6, 2008 10:19 AM | Link to this
Bill Whitaker responds: Hi, Sammy. No, I was there as a member of the much-maligned press, basically to learn what priorities Obama supporters have for their man (most cited the economy)and how they dealt with all the scare talk -- much of it sincere -- concerning Obama. Didn't eat any of the food or drink any of the wine or champagne. I did ask McLennan County GOP chairman M.A. Taylor a few days earlier if they were having any sort of party at his campaign headquarters over on Lake Shore Drive, but he said no, only that some individual members might have parties. I learned late in the game there was a bash of sorts over at George's involving some Republicans. My colleague Chris Oliver said the only noteworthy thing he observed at the GOP gathering was the decided lack of McCain-Palin signs. The main point was to celebrate the victories of 10th Court of Appeals justice-elect Rex Davis, Sheriff Larry Lynch and state Rep. Doc Anderson. I think congressional candidate Rob Curnock had a party elsewhere. And U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards had his party over at the Waco Hilton.
By Sammy
Nov 6, 2008 1:36 AM | Link to this
Bill, were you at the victory party as a reveler or reporter? Sounds as if you were enjoying yourself a little too much for it to have been strictly business.
By mec
Nov 5, 2008 9:09 AM | Link to this
"Obama isnıt going to destroy the United States...."
Obama is a very intelligent guy who happens to be Internationalist and Collectivist in his world view. He may be the ideal President for a country dying under its own weight and the population's sense of entitlement.
Nothing lasts forever and the current state of affairs in no way detracts from the greatness of the vision of the Founders or the sacrifices of succeeding generations.
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