On the Precipice

Here we stand on the verge of history, hours away from something that will shape the American society, and by extension, the Canadian as well, for a very long time.

And I'm not just talking if Obama wins. The way I see it, tomorrow either pushes us off that aforementioned precipice, or pulls us back from it.

Western society is kind of teetering right now, with the credit crisis, a possible sequel to the Depression and 8 years of George W Bush pushing us towards the cliff.

If John McCain is able to fraud himself a seat in the Oval Office tomorrow (I truly think this is the only way a McCain victory would come about, and the only way 2 Bush victories did) then the world as we know is done for.

I know you're thinking, but, but, it'll be the same as the last 8 years, what will change?

Well, 8 years was almost too much to take, but people see it as somewhat of an aberration, 8 years that got away from them all, and a new President is what will cure the wounds of the Bush years. If McCain is elected, we will have the same indecisive, ideological, misguided, downright nonsensical leadership that the West has endured over the last 8 years for at least the next 4. At the same time, there will also be the constant horror of President Sarah looming over all of us.

A dash of electoral fraud and a relapse of melanoma = some scary shit happening in Washington.

No one likes to say it, but the US sets the tone for the rest of us, in the G8 and outside, so whomever sits in that big chair does determine a large part of where the rest of the world moves, not just their own nation.

That being said, if McCain is able to get in, it ruins the notion that Bush was an aberration, and I frankly think the world might look for a different guiding light than the one that has led us all since the end of World War Two.

But, anyone reading this probably understands the depth of the dangers a McCain presidency would bring, so I won't beat that dead horse any more.

If Barack Obama wins tomorrow, it is like a blank slate, a new beginning. The sins of slavery will be washed almost clean, if not entirely, and the world will look upon the US with new hope in their eyes.

Pardon the word usage, but it would be a black and white scenario.

As Canadians we now stand on this edge, watching, pained that we cannot affect it in the least, and all we can do is sit, watch, wait, and hope everything turns out the way we, and the rest of the world need it to.

I'll say it again, we don't want Obama, WE NEED OBAMA.

I for one view this race as the defining one for my lifetime, win or lose. It will either make me believe that change is possible, and the son of a single mother, who had to take student loans to get an education and who worried where the next meal would come from can actually shift the world, or it will drop me into a pit of cynicism that I probably won't be able to crawl out of ever again.

For a person that wants to get into this political game one day, and very much fits the points I listed in the previous paragraph, I really need my hopes to be heeded, just this once. I have watched election after election up here, and around the world, where the winner didn't really deserve the prize, where the person who could toss out the most ads or smear the most took the seat.

No one has ever energized me in the way Barack has. I have watched him with apt attention for over 3 years now, and I need to see him win tomorrow. I need to know that the good guy can win the race, that rationality can take hold at a point, that people can do the right thing, and not be scared into doing the wrong one.

Of course, that viewpoint is a tad selfish, and of course I want all of the other dominoes that fall with an Obama presidency. I want healthcare, I want the flow of money to stop jumping into the upper-most tax bracket, I want justice and equality, and I want everyone to have a fair shake at things.

One Canadian blogging about the American elections likely won't change one tiny iota of what is going to happen tomorrow, but this is my two cents nonetheless.

We all stand on the precipice, and we all stand together, but only some of us have the power to pull us all back, or to push us over the cliff into oblivion.

I will watch tomorrow night, as I know many of my fellow Canadians, Americans, and citizens of the world will. We will all watch, holding our collective breath, and wish with all the might we can muster that for once, we can believe, we can have hope, and yes, that things can change.

I will close with the three words that have defined this lanky man from Hawaii and his campaign, who grew up with nothing and came to be so much, who has touched so many of our hearts. They are the three that have carried us all this far, pushed us to blog, cut videos, doorknock, phonebank and donate.

The words we have carried and the words we will carry forward, to give us that hope, and to push us forward to change the world.

Yes We Can.