Which is to say that January 1st doesn't really feel any different than December 31st, at least not in the way that today feels different than yesterday. At 11 PM eastern standard time, America finally moved into a new era. I found myself in a room full of NYU students studying majors related to public service and public policy - needless to say, this is a big deal for all of us. There's nothing like drinking with your professors and screaming at the top of your lungs each time a major swing state is announced.
Of course, I returned home afterwards to Bed-Stuy, an historically African American neighborhood in the middle of Brooklyn. I emerged from the subway at the corner of Nostrand Avenue and Fulton Street to find crowds of people holding signs, cheering as cars passed honking their horns. I imagine this is a bit like the World Cup in Europe. Which is ironic, since America doesn't tend to get too worked up about the political process. A stranger on the street congratulated me. I thanked him and congratulated him back.
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We have turned a page as a country, not only on the issue of race, but on the question of government's role in our lives. The Republican ideology of weak gov't coupled with unfettered markets and private sector has gone down in flames: Americans want their gov't to help them, not to use them to funnel money up to the wealthiest among us. Perhaps with the election of Barack Obama and the Democratic gains in the Senate and the House, we have ushered in a new era of progressivism in American politics and culture.
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