Why I Gave My Heart to Obama

All through the very long campaign, I kept thinking I was going to write a post about why I supported Obama. At first I held back because I wanted to keep this a spiritual blog and I did not want to turn it into a political one. I have other places to talk about political matters. But there is this one thing that I found myself saying in person over and over again to people that I realized I really should be saying here. But I never did.

So if I'm ever going to say it, today of all days is the day to say it. It's this:

I began to get an inkling when I heard some of his policy positions and a few of his speeches and soundbites, but I knew for sure once I had the opportunity to see and hear him in person - Barack Obama is a better person than I am.

I said this to other people - I am voting for Obama because for the first time in my life there is a politician who is actually a better person. And they would say, "Oh, I'm sure he is a better person than Clinton." Or later, "Do you think he really is a better person than McCain?" And I would explain, "No - you don't understand. Obama is a better person than me."

I don't think I could have said anything more shocking. Every person I said that to looked at me like I had strange things hanging out of my nose, or I had just confessed to serial murder, or as if I was speaking an entirely incomprehensible language. "What do you mean?" or "What are you talking about?" they would ask, by which they meant "Have you utterly lost your mind?" It's like we have all agreed as a people that by definition, a person who enters politics or runs for office CANNOT be a good person.

So I would explain. I think he is more honest than I am. I think he is more capable of turning the other cheek. I think he is more patient. He does a better job of searching for the good in others - of actually seeing the god in all other creatures, including his enemies. He is not only brilliant, not only visionary, but he seeks to put his brains at the service of his community rather than himself or his family. His definition of self includes not only his family, his community and his country but the whole world. Or at least, he's better at it than I am.

I'm not saying Barack Obama is a saint; not trying to argue that he doesn't have faults (we'll all come to know them, I'm sure). I'm just saying he is farther ahead on the path than I am. And frankly, I find that amazing. Not that there is someone farther ahead than me - there are plenty of those. But that someone like that is in politics. Because I, too, had given up on ever finding anyone with any integrity left running for the highest offices in our land. But this is what I came to believe pretty quickly about Obama, and he hasn't disappointed me yet.

Well, that isn't true. He has sometimes disappointed me in that he has not always behaved "perfectly;" there was that moment, for example when he allowed his campaign to respond in Ohio to Clinton's nasty tactics. But he caught himself. He noticed what he was doing, he realized he was giving back spite for spite, and he put a stop to it. Not only that, he apologized for his lapse and endeavored not to do it again. Wow. Talk about a man who walks the talk.

I was feeling very alone on this - like maybe I was way out there. It didn't dissuade me - I know what I know : ) bt I still felt so good when, on election night, I heard an interview with Parker Palmer on either WPR or NPR. Palmer is a very, very wise man who has earned my respect and trust. Here's what he said about Obama (my paraphrase):

"I've been a practicing Quaker for more than 40 years, and I can only say that I practice at non-violence. But this young man has an extraordinary ability to take contrasting views deep inside himself to some deep well of peace and just resolve them there. His capacity for handling conflict (tension?) far surpasses anyone I have ever known." He went on to talk about how one cannot fake a deep spiritual rootedness. That while it has been an American political fad to claim religious righteousness and get people all riled up, there is just no way to fake, or fool someone about whether or not you have that deep connection to Spirit, whether you are a deeply developed spiritual being, like Ghandi, like Nelson Mandela.

Yes. So that is why I am so grateful that Barack Obama is going to be our 44th President, beginning today. Not only is he brilliant. Not only is he visionary. Not only does he have integrity, and will he seek out good advice, and all of those other things. But he is a deeply evolved spiritual being. He will always seek to do the right thing. This I believe.