Mayor’s Row…….by Ned Mitchell

          Just as sure as I am sitting here at the computer the sun came up early this morning just as I had predicted it would do last night after watching history being made by the election of Barack Obama as our 44^th President.

          While I try to think of eloquent things to say and attempt to wax poetically about the election both local and national, I realize that on the national level to quote Bill Clinton’s advisers “its’ the economy stupid” and that pretty well sums up what went on this year.

          Undoubtedly we are in the worst financial era since the great depression.  I was not around then, despite some of you thinking I am older than dirt, but I do have parents who were and have heard stories about the difficulties facing Americans back then.  I’m not an economist by any means but I do understand the difficult times many are facing today.  Our job situation in this area is pathetic and I well remember the time when anyone who wanted a job had a job and earned a decent wage with good benefits such as health insurance and retirement.  Those days are gone for now and we will all be able to watch history unfold as the new President takes control of the government.  Democrats picked up several seats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives so that will make President Obama’s platform easier to pass.

          We hear the word mandate being tossed around by political talking heads but I am not so sure that we can call this one a mandate.  I do think we can call this one a call for change and the new President picked up on that theme early on in his quest for the White House.  President Bush has the lowest approval ratings of any President since Richard Nixon and to just be blunt about it a lot of folks just thought this country was going in the wrong direction under the Republican Party.

          One of the really great things about this election though was the massive turnout of voters.  Locally voters turned out at over 70% and anytime people speak that loudly with their votes they are seeking change.  Another highlight to this election was the involvement of so many young people and first time voters.  They are the future of this country and they often see things that some of us who have been through these battles many times do not.  They for sure were impressed with the Obama call for change and bought into it lock, stock, and barrel. 

          One great hope we can all have in all of this is that we need to exercise a great amount of patience when reality sets in and the change the country voted for takes time to put in place.  There will be no quick solutions and no easy answers.  This country did not get into the mess it is in overnight and we should not expect to recover overnight either.  How we join together and give the new President his chance to govern will determine what course this nation will take in the next four years.

          Young people who became involved will undoubtedly be energized to run for office as they see that one person joined with many others can bring about history and change.  When you stop and think about it this is really a historic time.  Not so many years ago this nation was a nation where slavery was common; we even fought a Civil War over the concept.  Another great President from Illinois, Abe Lincoln led this country through a difficult time and made history in so doing because he felt it was the right thing to do.  It is of course too early to tell if President Obama will be one of the great ones but the fact is that record levels of voters turned out to give him that opportunity.  I am reminded of President Kennedy’s statement in his Inaugural Address that the torch had been passed to a new generation and I believe with all of my heart that I witnessed for the second time in my life the passing of that torch to a new generation. 

          John McCain is undoubtedly a great hero to all Americans and he ran a great campaign but “its’ the economy stupid” that Americans once again realized had to be changed.  We all should join in to support the new President and join our hearts in prayer that God will truly bless all of America!

          On a personal note and purely selfish of me little did I know that when Barack Obama was a State Senator in Illinois as I was and that he played a weekly poker game in the house where I lived in Springfield that he would someday be President.  If I ran into him, and I won’t, he would recognize me and ask how things are in Sesser.  Locally others who have served in the State Senate with the new President are Jim Rea, Larry Woolard and Gary Forby.  We all had the unique experience of knowing him on a personal level.  By the way, I’m not a card player but did watch many of those games in the basement of the house where I lived in Springfield and can tell you that President Obama is a pretty good poker player with a decent poker face but he will need all of us to make this work.

          Locally State Senator Gary Forby, the man the Republicans try to beat in every election pulled off another win.  The race cost about $2 million dollars and came down to a close finish.  Once again record numbers of voters turned out and returned Forby to office so we cannot argue that the masses did not have their say in this election.  As I predicted that it would be close but would come down to Forby having a better ground operation on Election Day was the difference in the two campaigns.  The unions turned out in full force and got their vote out in a big way.  Forby really ran his best race ever in his home county and one cannot argue that Franklin County voters thought he was the best choice for the job at hand.  One fellow union member of mine in the Illinois Federation of teachers was a big supporter of Forby based on the fact that he had voted 100 percent with the union.  The old saying of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours as my union brother explained that was really how it worked.   No matter which side your were on, winning or losing, we all have a huge task now ahead of us in Franklin County.  It would be a good time for all politicians, nationally and locally to take my dad’s advice and be either a humble winner or a gracious loser.  If we can do that, we will all ultimately be winners!

          Congratulations to the winners and to those who lost, thanks for entering the race and running for office.  The fact that we can have elections is what makes America a truly great nation!