The Democratic Process

Tuesday night I went down to Grant Park with Charlotte Jacobs, one of the other 7th grade Humanities teachers, to watch the election results come in. The rally was an interesting, at times powerful experience. The crowd, I thought, was excited and positive, but also somewhat anxious. When the jumbotron displayed a leading news network's decision to call the election for Obama, the cheering seemed to contain as much relief as excitement. The jumbotron (pictured below) really held a powerful sway over the crowd. There were several moments where I found myself looking around at the crowd and seeing nearly every face turned upward toward the screen--and those who weren't were busy talking into or tapping away on their cell phones. There was talking, and laughing, and storytelling, but less than I expected. I spoke briefly to several strangers but had no meaningful discussions. I don't know that the digital age is entirely to blame (perhaps my own crankiness at staying out late on a school night played a part, as well) but I did often feel like the constant stream of information fed to us from high above, filtered through arc lights and the constant drone of the helicopters, inserted an odd distance between my focus and the communal experience I had expected.

On the other hand, when Obama finally took the stage around eleven thirty, the speech he gave transcended that digital divide. People listened, but they listened together, their emotions swelled together, and by the end of the speech the crowd had reached a very different place. We discussed this speech as an example of public speaking in class on Wednesday, looking at how Obama moved from one theme to the next, emphasizing unity, responsibility, and possibility. We discussed the way he modulated his pace and tenor to build those themes into a cohesive message. We discussed his repeated references to Abraham Lincoln and the intent behind such a strategy. And we discussed how this speech in and of itself represents another step in the historical narrative Obama described within that speech. Regardless of where one stands politically, participating in such an event does provide an interesting sense of what it means to be part of a democracy these days--the dangers of too much information mediated by too much flash and dazzle, but also the potential for the personal to reinsert itself into the process at the most crucial moment. I'm glad that I was there on Tuesday evening, and I'm glad that I'm a part of a country where such an event is possible.


Here are some (blurry) photos from the event, in case you weren't able to make it yourself: