Yes, we can. A phrase, a campaign slogan, a mantra? All of these things. But more importantly, for our generation at least, the three words represent the sentiments felt by a group of people emotionally attached to this election in a way that few generations have before.
For all of the excitement felt by the multitudes of people across the country who supported the candidacy of Barack Obama, college students particularly have a stake in this excitement. It was largely due to our generation that all this excitement is taking place.
It all started back in February of 2007 when the first-time senator from Illinois announced he would run for the Democratic presidential nomination. At the time, most groups wrote off his candidacy as unlikely and even foolish in the face of the “clear front-runner,” then Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Obama was inexperienced, new to the national scene, has a funny name, and ““ in case you hadn’t heard ““ is black. But if there was one group of people who overwhelmingly stood up in the face of these put-downs, it was us, the college students. And it very well may be that it was our generation that got the country where it is today, celebrating this historic election in a manner unheard of among normally stiff and formal inaugurations.
Indeed, college students and young people in general were the ones who left their jobs, studies, friends and lives for almost two years to go campaign for a man that many elders said would not even get nominated. It started in Iowa, where Obama’s victory in the state’s Democratic caucus was seen by many politicos and pundits as the result of abnormally strong grassroots efforts throughout the state.
And while the Obama campaign must be credited for envisioning and successfully carrying out this effort, people, and more importantly our generation, cannot forget that we were the muscle behind the brains of the campaign organization in those first few months.
Of course, as Obama began winning primaries, his support began to include people of all ages, races and regions. But in those first few freezing winter months in Iowa, college students were the people who braved the cold to tell Iowans why they should vote for this man to be our next president.
Despite all the odds against Obama and his candidacy, we stuck with him. Through the surprise defeat in New Hampshire, the inability for him to close the deal in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania or any of the other states he couldn’t wrangle from Clinton, our generation stuck by our candidate.
When the general election came, it was student groups across the country ““ such as the Bruin Democrats, who traveled to Nevada to campaign almost every weekend in the last month of the general election ““ who galvanized people to go out and vote for change.
Of course, Obama will not be a perfect president. There will undoubtedly be many disappointments in his first 100 days and the months that follow. There will be times when the country, including our generation, will frown upon the Obama administration’s actions or wish they pursued a policy that was less controversial. And when that time comes, we will turn a critical eye upon Obama.
But for the time being, college students can watch the historic inauguration and take pride. Obama asked, and we responded: Yes, we could. And we did.