The Reverse Bradley Effect

I am the ‘proof-in-the-pudding.’ I am white (albeit Jewish), raised by liberal, Depression-era, Roosevelt Democrats. When my middle brother went away to USC on a football scholarship (no, really), one of his black teammates came to live with us for a year; a pretty unique experience in 1960’s Orange County. I, on the other hand, am also a registered Republican and an unrepentant ‘neo-con’ supporter of the war on terror. But I voted for Obama not just because of my family history, but because, as Thomas Friedman put it, his candidacy represented the end of the Civil War, finally. So while my vote was, at least in part, racial, I do not believe that it was ‘racist’ or even ‘reverse-racist.’ My vote was practical: we need to continue not only the healing process which is our shared, historical legacy, but we need to continue to perfect the ideals of the great American experiment started by the founding fathers. The fact that, at least since Reagan, all reasonable and fair-minded Americans can agree on an inclusive interpretation of these ideals --- that we are ALL created equal and should have an equal opportunity to achieve based on a meritocracy in the social/economic realm and a representative democracy in the political realm --- is what has so enthralled the rest of the world. We have proved again that America is a land of opportunity, that our rough-and-tumble society of rugged individualists is open enough to embrace the immediacy of the moment and once more remake itself in the image of an ever more perfect union. So my vote was for the candidate that I felt was best qualified to write the next chapter of the American narrative, not who was best qualified to protect our interests abroad. It was a leap of faith, certainly, to give this young, charismatic but clearly less experienced black man a chance to take the reigns of executive power. But seeing the images of jubilation and, truly, relief, from his supporters, at finally having reached this juncture in our history, reassured me that my choice was the best one for all of us, as Americans. That was my choice this time, but, as always, only time will tell if it was the best one.

Raoul Rabinowitz of CA 4:04PM November 07, 2008