dancing in the streets

Kirsten and I watched the election results at a friend's house, with about 20 people, some of whom had already left by the time the West Coast polls closed and the Networks called the race for Obama. We stayed to watch John McCain's speech, which meant we missed the last Metro train home. Walking among horns blaring, we caught a bus where the mood of the driver and passengers can only be described as jubilant. There were several impromptu street parties in D.C. that night, including a large gathering of people outside the White House. We missed those, but no matter where you were around midnight after the election you couldn't miss the horns honking in celebration and the people on the sidewalks chanting Obama.

The result excited me as well, although not without trepidation. I don't think there's much the government can do to turn around the economy, although I imagine there are many things they could do that would make it worse. I don't yet believe that a huge majority in Congress will actually translate into major policy changes for the good of the country instead of individual grabs for more power and money. And I don't know if Obama can hang on to the excitement that clearly existed for his candidacy.

But for me the biggest promise of Obama was that he appears to want to know. He wants to examine all facets of a policy decision, to see if it could really work. He wants to hear dissenting views. He wants to get the details right.

This could be an illusion. The shine could tarnish, and we could find out once again the politicians tend to be more interested in their own electoral interests than the country's. We could find out the challenges of the moment, which will almost certainly call for sacrifice and tough decisions politically, are too much.

But I hope the feeling that had people celebrating in the streets with total strangers Tuesday night and Wednesday morning carries over, at least a little bit, for the next few years.