Dear Mary. Meet Your New President

Dear Mary,
It’s been awhile since I’ve written you a real letter, but this will have to count. I just want you to know how much this election has meant to Daddy and me.
I thought we might, in time – maybe not for decades, but in God’s good time – elect a president who does not look like us, who does not sound like most of us, who is better educated than most of us, and whose family dynamics are ’way different from most of ours.

When it actually happened, I was giddy with anticipation and disbelief.
Have you thought about why they call Barack Obama the first black president? He was raised by white grandparents and other white family members and seems to have been allowed to choose which genealogy to claim. In Hawaii, interracial marriages don’t raise an eyebrow.

They call the Obama family black. His skin is different from ours, yes, but know that he could just as well be considered white. Black + white = Black? White?

When Obama – I should be saying “Mr. Obama” or “The president,” shouldn’t I? – first announced his candidacy, I thought, “How nice. The poor fellow will be smothered in security personnel. For what? To fix our economy? To clean up the air?

Or to embarrass us with dalliances or forgotten taxes? Please, Lord, no.
Every new president I remember seeing sworn into office on Jan. 20 meant the oath of office he was taking. Seems like the honeymoon gets over with earlier and earlier, and one morning we’re facing reality and names and transactions, and sigh, “Might have known he was too good to be true.”

Why is it so hard for us to say, “No, I don’t want any part of a swindle.” Or “Sorry, that sounds like a breach of trust, and my administration has pledged we’ll stay transparent to earn public trust.”
I think this is the first presidential election in which my candidate won, and I’m so proud of that. Come back in eight years and laugh, if I’m wrong. I don’t think I am, however. I think we have a genuinely honest man in Barack Obama, and a First Lady that will do us proud.

I’ve never seen a person hit the ground running like Mr. Obama did. I know that’s cliché, but I don’t know any other way to put it. Many previous presidents have taken vacations during the relative calm between Election and Inauguration days. After what they and their staffs have just been through, that’s not a bad plan.

But not Mr. Obama, however, who signed a lot of documents – including the one that made him president – and there was still a small stack of whatever it is that presidents sign when they get to the Oval. And this was late on Inauguration Day. What will he be like after a relaxing weekend at Camp David?
(Did you ever hear the shortcut, “Oval?” before this election cycle? It is one of this new coinage which includes “transparency,” and “social,” short for “Social Security.”)
Mary, believe me when I tell you I have confidence in the new sense of hope that came in with President Obama. I think he may be trusted, and I think his brilliant intellectual gifts will make up for any lack of experience he may have.

You say your German friends have expressed their congratulations that America has elected a competent leader – not only for America but for the world.
When Mr. Obama began to appear as a serious candidate, black people I know were quick to say, “I’m not voting for him just because he’s black. He doesn’t seem to be very experienced. I’ll wait and see what he says in the debates.”
After the debates and the election, most of the same people said, “We’ve elected a black man for president!”
And whites I know say, “Well, I didn’t vote for him, but I must admit I’m impressed. He’s already into serious issues like Guantanamo….”

I’ve begged friends not to laugh at me for the occasional titter. The whole unlikely process reminds me of the two TV series, “The West Wing” and “Commander in Chief.” If you’d made it all up, producers would reject it as unbelievable.
Whether they like our new president or not, I ask people to pray for him. What a burden that strong, lean back has promised to lift from ours. And I believe he can do much of what he has promised.
Yes, he can.

Love,
Mom