The Cosmopolitan Blog

You know how, when you’re coming to a really important moment in you life, all your nervousness, at the last moment, turns into this ultimate calm? A great moment is upon us on Tuesday. And after months of outcries and strong emotions, suddenly i feel calm. As if the fate of the world had already been decided, and now we just had to wait for the results.

This will be my last post before the elections, so it’s long and reflective, but I’d love to have you follow me in my thoughts:

I am calm because perspective has suddenly hit me. It’s simple really. Whomever is elected on Tuesday, nothing will change. Life will continue on November 5th as it did on November 4th. The economy, if we are in recession, will continue its downward spiral, until the day it comes up again. Cycles are a fact of economics. Healthcare will continue to remain unreachable and expensive, if anything ever changes, it won’t start overnight. Teachers will continue to be underpaid, we will continue to have a shortage of nurses, and we will not get out of Iraq or Afghanistan tomorrow. The world will continue tomorrow, seamlessly, the way it did until today.

Neither Obama or McCain are EVIL, but neither are superheroes either. They will both be very decent presidents, they will do their best in office, concentrating on the issues that matter to them, some will affect me, some will affect my neighbor, and some won’t concern us at all. Under Obama, you might pay less taxes, but under McCain, you might get help with healthcare instead. A president is a president. Yes he can be inspiring, yes he can have a grand vision, and sometimes, he might even do something so significant that he will go down in history for it.

But essential, your life, my life, our children’s lives won’t change on January 21st, the day after the new president takes office. A president doesn’t have that much power. He has a cabinet he must listen to, interest groups he must please, Congress who must approve his bills…

So what will change? The difference between McCain and Obama is whether the American Dream will be within our reach again or not. Why do i say that, if nothing will really be different? I watched this show on NBC this afternoon: Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons: a tribute on Ice. It was corny and silly, and yet something happened to me. I suddenly started remembering what the US represented, ideologically, in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Images of wholesome families, moral values, hope for all, where anyone in America, if he worked hard enough, could become president. Remember those days? Where America stood for something greater than oneselves, where everyday, average Americans inspired the world through stories of success and social responsibility, where the model of America, a government of the people for the people, was alive and well and prospering?

The American Dream was even stronger outside America. We looked at America in envy, it was the land of opportunity, everyone got their fair chance, as long as they put in the effort. Americans showed heroism, they were famous around the world for their big ideas and their big achievements.

Listen, when Obama says McCain is more of the same, he’s right. But that also means that we’ll be fine, even if McCain is president, because, just like with George Bush, the country will continue to run, whomever is president. You can be as uncessful as George Bush and STILL manage to run a country. Why? Because a country’s government is a well oiled machine that won’t just BREAK because a president was not good at his job. Bush did not CREATE this financial crisis, he didn’t cause the attacks on 9/11, he didn’t hike gas prices. Those happened all on their own.

But what Bush DID do, was ruin the solid reputation of America. He took decisions on behalf of Americans and they were wrong. He didn’t listen to counsel, he made public blunders, he seemed dumb and the whole world ridiculed this man that was supposed to be the leader of the free world. But a 4 year term, and history would have eventually forgotten about him, like we do a bad dream. But 8 years! 8 years solidified America as a country that couldn’t even be trusted to elect a good president. The US, now, has lost its cachet. Gone are the dreams of fairness and equality for all, the image of wholesomeness has been blown to pieces.

So what will Obama do better than McCain? What Obama is offering is MORE than just more of the same. Does that mean you’ll get a check in the mail, or someone will return the keys to your house that was foreclosed the next day after he takes office? No. But he’s offering hope. He’s offering to restore the American Dream back to America. He’s young when Washington is filled with old men. He’s dynamic. He’s black when Washington is white. He’s lived in various countries and has exposure to the world. He’s tried drugs, he was an unsettled youth, he had to find himself. And what he found, along with himself, was the American Dream and a desire to succeed, for himself and for his community. He saw poverty and wanted to fix it. He saw unfairess, and wanted to make it better. He remains true to his values and his morals, always (he left the Senate at a crucial moment when he daùghter was sick, he left his presidential campaign for 2 days when his grandmother was sick). He thrives on challenges: i see that by the life partner he chose: Michelle is his equal in every way, this is different from McCain who wanted a perfect “mother and housewife” as a life partner.

Here’s the thing. You HAVE to vote on Tuesday. You owe it to your country. But at the end of the day, you will get the president you deserve. If you are still a land of inspired Americans with great ideals, you will rise to the occasion and elect then man who can restore you to greatness. But if you don’t think outside the box, if you vote out of fear, if you think “better the devil you know”, then you will also get what you deserve, you will get more of the same, a man that allows your humdrum life to continue, but without really changing anything.

This is it. I’m no longer bitter or angry or scared. I’m at peace knowing that you are standing on the edge of potential greatness. The American Dream is within your reach. Will America go down as a “has-been superpower”? Or will it continue to be the leading country of the free world? The choice is yours. It’s up to you America. Will you rise to the challenge?