McCain Was Here Too.

In recent times, I am becoming something am not exactly proud of. I used to believe in fairy tales, now I seem to be simply cynical. I am hoping this is just a phase that will pass, because its battering what is left of my faith. But I want to believe the scripture that says a righteous man may fall down seven times because he won’t stay down the first time, or second, or third… but what about the eight time? I hope am not out of count.

Anyways, I want to blog, I just can’t find the passion or the prose. Living seems to be my greatest achievement these days. I wake up and just go through the motions, like on auto-pilot, without actually manning the controls. Monday comes too soon, and Friday comes too late. the hours run too slow and the echo is louder than ever.

Many blogs and many mouths are talking Obama. I am not now nor have I ever been a political person, but I must confess that this election was one that I was more aware of than any other in my lifetime. The publicity was so permeating that you could not get away from it; perhaps because of the many novel factors involved. Either way, the election has come and gone, and Obama has gained a footprint in history.

Good for him, and while everyone awes and oohs at him, I don’t envy him. because I see beyond the glory he has achieved. I see the game he has begun. A game where every move matters; a game where losing isn’t just about losing. I look at pics of his family, and I don’t envy them. What they have gone through during campaigns, and what they will go through now. A Yahoo report said about his girls receiving a new puppy but losing their privacy. The Obama’s are surely no stranger to the public, but now the ante just shot up the scale, and I say Amen to Jaycee’s prayer for this trailblazer.

But taking my eyes off Obama, I want to focus on McCain. The thing is I don’t know anything about him. Being one apathetic to politics, I couldn’t be bothered to research about McCain. Or Obama for that matter. But irrespective, I know more than a few things about Obama, and literally nothing about McCain. Obama’s press patronage was colossal to say the least.

But if I know nothing else about McCain, I know this one thing about the man. He is. See maybe the reason I appreciate this fact about the man is because I find myself in a place where all I can do is be. I mean, I know the dynamics of election and how unpredictable it can be at the last minute, but even from my own uneducated and ignorant political observation, I could tell that Obama would most likely, to the 99.9%, rack up the votes.

So what kept McCain running? I mean, put optimism aside and all. When it’s obvious that your chances of winning are non-existent at worst, or slight at best, what keeps you running and fighting? What keeps you playing the game like you would win when the final facts are tipping otherwise? What keeps you believing in a God that suddenly seems like he’s on vacation? What keeps you believing in salvation when you have inadvertently started slipping down the slopes of sin? What keeps you dreaming when all you can see now is monochrome? What keeps you staying afloat when all you can see in the horizon is water and more water? I guess sometimes, just fighting is all the fight you have to put up.

That, for me, is a lesson from McCain. And I know Obama has had his fair share of the odds, and I congratulate him for his win. But I also doff my hat to McCain and dedicate a blog post to him – even a rambling post like this one.

Remi nominated me- my second nomination in blog world. I say thank you and this time around, I will try to follow the rules – in my next post. Nepa is out, our gen just went off and I am typing with the light from my laptop screen and my internet access is crawling, so I’ll just post this now and come back later.