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| Historic election requires historic resolve to come together Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 3:14 PM PST And now it is over, save for the shouting, which will undoubtedly continue on cable television and Internet forums until the next run for the White House begins … in about a year. It’s become a cliché, but only because it is true: This was a historic election. Our nation tackled questions of race and gender that have hidden in plain sight for generations. For the first time ever, there was near universal agreement that men and women of any color were capable of holding the highest office in the land. It sounds obvious, and that fact alone is a measure of just how far we’ve come in recent months. The at-once extraordinary and ordinary truth — that anyone can lead — could not come at a better time. We are a nation in crisis. There has never been a more complex array of troubles on a president’s plate. When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, he will become the commander in chief of a nation at war on two fronts. He must address the most pressing global financial meltdown in nearly 80 years. And he must rebuild our stature in the world. It’s a tall order for any man – too tall, in fact, for any one man. He will need a little help from all of us. The election just passed was also historic for its nasty politics. A continuous news cycle and partisan pundits fueled hateful attacks from both the left and the right. Somehow we must rebuild our faith in each other. That is the most pressing task for our new president – ending the uncivil war that has divided us into warring factions of red and blue. Obama built his victory on the twin pillars of hope and change. We owe it to ourselves, now that we have come so far, to provide a sturdy foundation around those pillars. We’re all in this together. Let’s act like it. — Clay Lambert |