SmartRemarks

President Barack Obama. Has a nice feeling as it rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?

It feels like taking a deep breath of fresh, clean air after eight years of holding your breath.

This kind of enthusiasm about the inauguration of a new president is unlike anything in living memory—certainly not mine, at least, and I’ve heard the same thing from folks considerably older. It’s a wonder to behold.

Obama’s name and image are everywhere. He’s on book and magazine covers, he’s on banners hanging over city sidewalks. He’s on soda bottles and baseball caps, coffee mugs and children’s drawings on refrigerators. At the gym yesterday I saw a young woman wearing a T-shirt reading “I (heart) Obama.” Major newspapers have published extra print runs of their Nov. 5 victory editions to sell off at $5 or $10 a pop.

Americans are ready, more than ready, to feel optimistic and idealistic again. After eight years of oppressive despair and decline, the country has (not for the first time in its history) won itself a second chance, a chance to correct the errors of its ways… and proved it deserved that chance, all at the same stroke… by the actions of its citizens at the ballot box.

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For a long time now, the words “Grant Park” had only negative political associations. They evoked 1968, police attacking protesters, civil society crumbling before our eyes.

After 40 years, Tuesday’s election finally relegated that to the back burner. Grant Park in 2008 was about the culmination of a political process that brought people together, and the beginning of an effort to rebuild our tattered social compact.

I’m sure you’ve all seen plenty of photos by now, but (after the first couple, at least) these are mine. It was remarkable to be there, and I wanted to share.

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