Why I Should Be Sent To The Inauguration (01-19-09)

Recently, I heard about an essay contest in which ten winners would receive an all expenses paid trip to the inauguration of Barack Obama.

Now, honestly, I don’t want to attend the inauguration. I chose to live in a small town, and dealing with the traffic and the other issues generated by a crowd of an estimated four million people is not my idea of a good time.

But the essay part kind of intrigued me. So though I have long since missed the deadline, the following would have been my entry in the “Why I Should Go To The Inauguration Essay Contest.”

Yes, We Can Starts With Me
By Bill Goodwin

Barack Obama ran for president on a simple, yet profound, mantra: Yes, We Can. He spoke to our country’s capacity to change. He spoke to the promise and potential of an electorate committed to making the country a better place. He spoke to the power of hope and dreams in a three word creed, that when we are told that we can’t do what has to be done to improve our country, we only need respond, “Yes, We Can.”

I think I should be one of the ten winners of this essay contest, and that I should receive an all expenses paid trip to see Mr. Obama become President Obama for one simple reason: “Yes, We Can” starts with me.

As a small town, Northwest Kansas, grade school principal, I see everyday how people can come together to accomplish amazing things. Some would say that we can’t teach every kid. Maybe that is true in big schools, but here in small town America, where we know every name of every student, yes, we can. Some say that we can’t get past our political differences and come together to make important decisions. As someone who works daily with people of differing beliefs and opinions, I know there is plenty of common ground. Can we all get along? I dare say, yes, we can. And there are some who say that in these troubling economic times that we can’t continue to grow, to build, to give and to receive. Well in both my job and in my place in Hill City, Kansas, I see these things every day. So again, yes, we can.

Really, this is not about Barack Obama. This is about we, the people, and our attitudes, and our capacity to come together to reach common goals. Where I live, people do that all the time. In fact, we rarely talk politics, and we don’t watch much T.V. We just show up, get to work, and in the words of that populist philosopher, Larry The Cable Guy, yes we can “Git’r done!”

If I were to witness first hand this historic event, I would be able to testify to the spirit of cooperation, compassion, and care for the common good that is the bedrock of the lifestyle I embrace. I would be able to stand up and be counted not as an Obama supporter, or as the member of a political party, but as someone who loves this country and is willing to lend a hand.

I do not hope to win this contest in order to view history, but rather I hope to win in order for history to view me, a simple person ready to answer a simple call. Mr. Obama tells us that yes, we can, and I am ready to say that yes, I can help with that.

We only have to look to the Preamble of our Constitution: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union... I think after two hundred plus years, it is about time to make this Union a little more perfect. Divided, we will continue to fall. United, we can stand, and we can overcome, and we can succeed in making our country a better place.

At least in Northwest Kansas, we can. It starts with me, and it starts when I stand up with Barack Obama at his inauguration.

Thank you for reading my essay. I will be packed and ready when you call to inform me that I have won. Thank you in advance, and may God Bless me, Hill City, Northwest Kansas, and the United States of America.