Hope, Fear and 60 Minutes

It seems that millions of Americans are awaiting Barack Obama's presidency with great anticipation. His 60 Minutes interview had a big audience--bigger than that program has had before in this century. He continues to get high approval ratings, and more than three-quarters of those surveyed by CNN are confident he will make the right choices for his Cabinet. The interest in his Inauguration is high, with upwards of a million people expected in Washington to witness it in some fashion. Update: DC officials said Tuesday they expect up to four million people for the Inauguration.

But in all this hope there is also fear, and some of it is ugly, and may be dangerous. Hundreds of incidents, most of them racial, have been recorded by police and other agencies across the country, including cross-burnings, vandalism and children chanting assassination.

This reactionary wave may be temporary. But even if these post-election reactions settle down, for other reasons we're in for a bumpy ride, for some months at least. The full impact of the economic crisis hasn't hit most people and most places yet. Many businesses will try to hang on through the holiday shopping season but with retail continuing to slide, by January there are apt to be more corporate bankruptcies and business failures, with more lost jobs. There's going to be a lot more anxiety and fear.

The best antidote is what we saw on 60 Minutes: a new President who speaks clearly, persuasively, and from the heart. Who is ready to act, and to keep trying things until something works. The more Barack Obama is seen and heard, the more confidence Americans will have. And the ignorant and misguided will either realize their fears are groundless, or they will simply find no support. While we must be vigilant to the real possibility of ugliness and even violence, we can't let it rule us.

In the coming weeks we will see a new administration unfold, and we will be called to participate in the great work ahead. We will all have our disappointments and disagreements. But Obama made it clear on 60 Minutes that he intends to do what he's promised in the campaign. What's been interesting to me is how consistent he's been in what he's said. We just hear and absorb more of it each time.

After 60 Minutes on Sunday, Margaret suggested that my grandmother would have approved of what we saw. It was an interesting remark, partly because Margaret never met my grandmother, who emigrated from Italy as a young wife and mother in the 1920s. But I had told Margaret that 60 Minutes was one of the few TV shows she always watched (along with Lawrence Welk and Family Feud)--only my grandmother called it "the clock."

But I think Margaret is right. The interplay between Barack and Michelle, and between Barack and the interviewer (Steve Croft), as well as what he had to say and how he said it, would probably have impressed her. She was wary of black people, but a nice suit and good manners went a long with her. I'm sure she looked for honesty in a candidate, and she was predisposed to Democrats. (Of course, that he left the campaign to visit his ailing grandmother would have won her vote and her heart right there.) But what usually sold her was intelligence. I can hear what she would say about Obama: "He's smart."