Election Party
Ambassador Janet Garvey
Historic Hope and Change
U.S. Presidential Elections
November 04, 2008
The people of the United States of America made history November 4. They made history when they turned out to vote in record numbers – black and white, Hispanic and Asian, young and old, men and women – often braving bitter weather and waiting in long lines to have their voices heard. They made history when they chose between Republican and Democratic presidential and vice-presidential candidates that included the first ever African-American and the second ever woman. They made history when they elected Barack Obama as their 44th president.
President-elect Obama campaigned on a platform of hope and change, and his victory is proof that both exist and both are possible.
The result of Tuesday’s vote confirms the hope that the American dream still exists – that the son of a black student from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas can succeed through merit, effort, and optimism and become President of the United States. It demonstrates that the hope of a people can overcome those cynics who say we can not make a positive difference in this world. It symbolizes the hope that we as a nation have taken a step further away from our tragic history of slavery and racism and towards the goal our founding fathers sought when they wrote in our Constitution of “a more perfect union.”
The election of President-elect Obama also represents change. Because our Constitution allows the president to serve a maximum of two four-year terms, changes in leadership are inevitable. However, President-elect Obama’s victory also means the party occupying the White House will change, as it has done 24 times since our nation was founded. This change has helped invigorate our political process by ensuring new political leaders with fresh ideas and energy emerge and by forcing politicians to be accountable to the electorate.
The key to the success of this change is the support of the candidate who fails to win the election. I was extremely touched by the dignified manner in which Senator John McCain conceded defeat, pledging to do all in his power to help President-elect Obama and urging all Americans to join him in “offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.” It is in this way that the United States is able to come together every four years after hard-fought campaigns and move forward again as a nation.
Throughout the presidential campaign I have been impressed by the interest of Cameroonians in our democratic process. With the election of President-elect Obama, I am also overwhelmed by the support and well-wishes Cameroonians have expressed to both me and my country. I am often asked what Africa can expect from an Obama presidency, a question to which I do not have an immediate answer. President-elect Obama is even now in the process of selecting the team who will create and implement his policies, and it is clear our next president faces enormous tasks and challenges: the current financial crisis; the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; new centers of power on the world’s stage; the changing profile of the American population. I have no doubt, however, that President-elect Obama will seek to accelerate Africa’s integration into the global economy, enhance the peace and security of African states, and strengthen relationships to deepen democracy and accountability and reduce poverty.
Returning to President-elect Obama’s campaign themes of hope and change, many have questioned whether the United States can take this historic moment by the reins and live up to the hopes of a nation – and in fact, a world – to be the agents of change we seek and need. To quote President-elect Obama, I believe that “Yes, we can.”