Election season is over

Cameron spent this presidential election very focused on the experience and news coverage about the race between John McCain and Barack Obama. He can't stand how I wouldn't talk about my opinions but he clearly defined his opinions and where he stood in the presidential battle. So when Barack Obama came to our town, I couldn't pass up the chance for him to see history in the making first-hand. So here are a few pieces of video I took as we stood in line, walked into the event and listened to the speech. By the way - It was nearly impossible to see Obama and I was okay with that, but I made sure Cam could see by letting him sit on my shoulders a couple of times. It took my back a couple of days to decompress! That boy is BIG!







I worked all election night helping run a massive webcast/watch party. So I brought a bunch of patriotic balloons back home that night. I took them into Cameron's room where he was sleeping... Then I crawled into bed with him and whispered: "Cameron, America elected its first black president." He shot up, giggled and asked, "Barack Obama?" I said yes and he went back to sleep smiling. I just couldn't wait until the morning to tell him the big news. Watching this election season from his perspective was a joy. I'm proud of him for being civically engaged and I hope I'll be able to help guide him to use that interest in productive ways as he grows up!

Presidential politics

There's something very interesting about Cameron. He is fascinated by presidential politics. Seriously. He's into this. During the primaries he would check the delegate numbers to see who was ahead. He's discussed how he thinks Obama can beat McCain because Obama beat Clinton. (And Cameron wanted Clinton to win) This week he told me he wants John McCain to win. Tonight he told me he wants Barack Obama to win.

I never tell him where I stand and that drives him nuts.

I discuss politics with Cameron in a Socratic way. I ask him why he supports the candidate. I ask him what made him come to conclusions. He is so desperate for me to leave this questioning process and agree to disagree with him. I'm a journalist and I try very hard to keep my opinions to myself and not let my opinions effect the way I help cover political news.

Tonight I let Cameron stay awake to watch some of the first presidential debate. He's desperately wanted me to help him learn more about each candidate (I'm thinking I need to find some kid news magazines). So I told him he could watch the debate to get a better understanding of where the candidates stand. He talked over most of the candidate statements. But he did listen to each man. During this time we had some really great six year old perspective. First, Cameron couldn't believe there's never been a black president. He went on to discuss Martin Luther King and how he was a leader. Second, Cameron started questioning why there is a president and why our country needs one. I asked him what he thought would happen if his school didn't have a principal. We talked about leadership and oversight. Suddenly Cameron started wondering what would happen if skateboarders were all over the place and the president decided that the skateboarders could only skate at a park. I guess you had to be there. I was so amazed to watch him analyze what a president does and which man is the right person to lead our country.

Pretty amazing.

So I put him to bed. Right before I left him, Cameron begged me once again to tell him who I am going to vote for. I once again told him I wouldn't. Cam told me I was making him sad. My silence is driving him batty. Poor kid. I guess being a journalist's kid is pretty rough.