constant narrator

I’m sitting, listening to NPR and the results of the Iowa caucuses. I have goosebumps. Historic, awesome, amazing.

I had an idea Obama was going to take the highly erratic Iowa caucuses after my Christmas visit to my 97 year old grandfather at a nursing home in Clarksville, Iowa. Population: 900. He had just been relating a story of an acquaintance he visited in St. Louis in 1953 who hated blacks (a puzzlement for him, then and now). This story came about because we were looking at a picture book from this trip and there were some African-Americans in the background of a photo.

A moment later, I started hearing the loud conversation (not so much with the good hearing in nursing homes) between a daughter and her elderly father. They were discussing the upcoming caucuses. The daughter was going on about Obama, how she liked his ideas about health care and education, how lovely his family seemed and how much she liked his wife. Never once did she mention his race or any qualms about his electability. At that point I was struck by how much has changed in 50 years; that a man could openly express his hatred for people of color in polite company in 1953 (and likely expect company) and that in 2007 this white woman in a small, conservative all-German town is psyched about voting for a black man for president with her elderly father agreeing with her.

At that point I realized Obama could win it. And if he can win in Iowa, he could win in anywhere but the deepest Southern state. And while Obama is not my first choice (that would be Bill Richardson), that he is competitive is a huge leap for this country.

I’m so delighted! Go Iowa! I’m proud of you, my little frozen homeland.