A lot can happen in 16 months.
Sixteen months ago, Sen. Barack Obama sat down with his wife and kids and decided to toss his name in the presidential hat – despite being unknown by two-thirds of the country at the time.
Sixteen months ago I wrote my first column for the Daily Emerald. Now, as Obama accepts the Democratic nomination and prepares for a presidential contest with John McCain, I am writing my last.
Like the presumptive Democratic nominee, I’ve got options – even as my word count dwindles for the last time. I’ll be back on campus in the fall; I could easily return and write 30 more columns next year for your reading pleasure.
No, I’m too close to the 50-column threshold, that tantalizing unspoken barrier by which one’s peak is gauged. Can you blame me? It’s not like writing columns is all that hard. But 50 of them? That’s a lot. I ran out of opinions two months ago. So I’m retiring. Like George Washington and John Elway before me, I’m hanging them up and going out on top.
If you’re wondering what I mean by “going out on top,” I’m referencing the fact that, in the past week I’ve managed to invoke the ire of conservative talk show host Lars Larson, members of the Oregon Commentator, even a member of my own staff. And I’ve had a great time doing all three. But like Whitney Houston’s singing career, that’s all in the past now.
So what about the future? I’ll be on the West Coast of Africa this summer, writing for a newspaper in Ghana. When I come back I’ll be a senior at the University, with one three-term school year standing between myself and career-dom. Some of you reading this are staring down that reality right now.
But whether you’re getting ready to start out at your first real job, going on to graduate school, getting an apartment with your hippie drug-dealing friend or moving back in with mom, you can look forward to the presidential election this fall.
I’m excited to vote. Besides being exhausted from an epic-ly excessive primary election, I’ve already gotten to connect that little black arrow leading to Obama’s name once, when we held our primary elections May 20. So part of the hype is gone.
That’s what this election has been all about – hype. That it’s taken 16 months to get here isn’t so much insane as it is a testament to our thick-headed resilience. Not only have we tolerated a historic level of fluff on the campaign trail, we’ve embraced it. I’m a perfect example of this. Though it isn’t directly related to my happiness, I’ve accepted the most myopic, clichéd punditry as fact. I’ve watched the talk shows and read the stories, sifted through the gossip, and I’m no smarter for any of it. So why?
I don’t know. But I have a strange feeling Obama does. We all underestimated the junior senator from Illinois with the funny name. I love that he’s captured the imagination of millions of white, affluent college students – people just like me. The fact that I can’t even begin to justify my adoration of the man does make me a wee bit nervous, but when was politics about being comfortable? Only one in four Americans feel comfortable with the way G.W. Bush has run his White House, after all.
I don’t care if you think he’s a lightweight or the Messiah. Hillary Clinton handed him the reins of the Democratic Party by ending her campaign Saturday, and now he’s a presidential nominee.
Which brings me back to myself. I could pretend that, with your finals and summer plans and social lives, you cared how I feel about finishing my time with the Emerald. But I’ll just tell you. I feel queasy, and a little bit empty inside. But that’s what “change” feels like. I feel honored to have been given the opportunity to provide you with completely subjective and biased commentary these past 16 months. I’ll miss seeing my face on bathroom floors every Monday, and I’ll miss being able to say, “Yeah, I write for the Emerald.” Oh well.
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