We've come so far, yet have so far to go

In the wash of historic optimism that swept the country yesterday, I ran into many a happy soul. Even here in Oklahoma City many people were happy. But then, at the peak of my happiness - ignoring the obvious trouncing of Obama and other Democrats here - I went to a basketball game.

For those not in Oklahoma, the state is shelling out a lot of money for the Thunder in an effort to make Oklahoma City a "big league city."

But we could not be more small.

At the game, My brother and I grabbed our usual seats. Next to me were three area business men still dressed in their work attire. As the game pressed on and the Thunder took a small lead over the championship Celtics, I made a comment about how well they were playing.

The man seated to my right, a middle-aged white man, remarked that the team did not have enough white players and that I should go help them out. I brushed it off.

I suppose that my non-response was enough to make him feel confident in my potential backwardness. He then added: "kinda like the presidency huh?"

I wrongfully resisted the urge for confrontation, choosing instead to make my thoughts clear by turning away and ignoring him. In retrospect, a short concise shaming would have been more appropriate. Perhaps something like "what about me makes you think I share your ignorance" would have worked.

He stayed quiet for a moment, then took a long bathroom break that lasted until halftime.

Later in the game, Mike Turpin, a popular Oklahoma Democrat, popped up on the big screen holding an Obama/Biden bumper sticker. A healthy portion of the crowd cheered, while the rest booed loud enough to provoke an apology from Turpin. It was a more amusing moment than the previous one, but a telling one none-the-less.

This morning, still a bit perturbed by how unlike the rest of the country Oklahoma is, I returned to the office. As I made my morning rounds of the news, I bumped into a nice map at NYTimes.com that showed the presidential election results from the county level. Distracted by all my other work, I had not had a chance to see individual county results in Oklahoma.

As it turns out, Oklahoma was the only state in the entire country where NOT ONE COUNTY voted in favor of Barack Obama - NOT ONE. That means that I live in one of the only major metropolitan area in America - aside from Tulsa - where voters did not favor Obama.

Another of the New York Times maps showed the degree to which individual counties shifted towards the Democrats or Republicans since the last election. Most of the country, as one might imagine, was blue.

But not the southeastern part of Oklahoma. That part of the map glowed red, along with a swath that stretched from there to West Virgina. In Oklahoma, these southeastern counties are the most ardently Democratic. In terms of state House and Senate seats, these counties are reliably Democratic. In McCurtain County - a single county in "little dixie" notable for having the state's highest unemployment rate and one of the highest percentages of registered Democrats (roughly 85 percent), voters chose McCain over Obama 7,744 to 2,792.

You read that right. In a county where the voting population is 85 percent Democratic, 73 percent chose Republican John McCain. 73 percent. And by far smaller margins, they also bucked the rest of the state-wide candidates for office.

So, in a year when the Republican brand could not get any lower, this long swath of life-long southern Democrats actually ignored their own self-interest and voted MORE Republican than in any previous year. MORE Republican. It is not atypical for Oklahoma Democrats to vote Republican in the presidential election, but not to this degree. While Obama made gains in Oklahoma County and Tulsa County - though not enough to win them - he lost ground in the bluest part of the state.

I have not yet looked at the county results for the primaries, but my suspicion is that these counties voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton. And in that sense, at least for Oklahoma Democrats like Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth and State Sen. Andrew Rice, Clinton might have been the better choice.

Viewing things from the center of the country, it seems apparent that Obama's victory, while amazing and symbolic of progress for the country, will in some ways be more divisive than any previous administration. Just as the fervor of his supporters has been staggering, the steaming resentment of his detractors is already palpable - enough so that this pragmatic liberal-tarian is fearful about the coming backlash.

For now, the insanity of neo-conservatism is in check. But in its place could rise something far worse. Nationally, Democratic victories in Congress and in the Senate came at the expense of moderate Republicans who were elected in swing districts. While the Democrats have taken the middle ground, they must navigate some treacherous waters because the remaining Republicans, are the hardest Republicans.

The dixie-crats, for now, have left the team. But they have not left the game.

It is incumbent upon all of us to bring them back on board. It is up to us to stroke their better angels and to gently shame their remaining demons. A coalition of anger between extreme conservatives and confused dixie-crats is a dangerous one indeed.

And it is even more important that we be able to distinguish voters who voted AGAINST Obama from those that voted FOR McCain. There were good Republicans and Democrats that voted for McCain based on principles and on policy preferences. They are our allies also. It is among them that we will find those most capable of dousing the flames of hatred.

And it is also up to Obama to show strength and leadership. Now that he has the attention of sceptics and ethnocentric hold-outs, it is up to him to prove why race does not matter. It is up to him to prove that what makes someone American is not their color, religion, or ideology, but their willingness to labor on the country's behalf.

And so I'll end my diatribe with a touch of my own hypocrisy. Don't be like me.

When confronted with under the table, hush-hush, whisper, basketball-bleacher-racism, don't turn the other cheek as I did. Instead, be diligent in your defense of your ideals. Challenge those who promote hate, no matter how small. When someone looks over their shoulder before a race joke, they should be fearful of their peers, not their intended target.

Its hard work. But we should labor on the country's behalf, because it's a labor of love.