It is sometimes the downfall but more often the genius of American politics that our electorate tends to prefer equilibrium over revolutionary change. Americans typically vote to restore and maintain balance, not to take drastic new directions. This is partly a product of a comfort level that few in any other countries of the world enjoy; we gravitate toward business-as-usual because business is usually so good. This means that, as long as our personal needs are met and the activities of our government don’t grow to demand too much of our attention, a lot of unjust policy and reckless decisions can persist for way too long. But it also means that a union founded on what human nature would suggest are the most fragile of foundations — full equality and truly free will — endures while many other countries experience multiple governments and violent overturns.

Sometimes that union marches forward and sometimes it hobbles, but it seems built to last. To do that it also has to grow, and while we Americans don’t always know when enough is enough (i.e., reelecting Bush II shortly after Abu Ghraib and shortly before Katrina), we seem to have a reliable sense of when enough is too much. I think that’s what just happened with the sound victory of Barack Obama in yesterday’s election. It’s been a long time since reality conformed to precedent (remember when no sitting vice president could get elected to the top spot like Bush’s father handily did, or when neither party could hold the White House for more than two terms in a row?) but thinking back, a pattern can come into view — we may not vote for radical change rather than measured steps in new directions (which is why Barack Obama could become president but Dennis Kucinich never can, and why this election was a kind of referendum on the radical changes in top-down management that Bush never put to our vote), but when presented with the promise of a truly transformative moment, Americans appear to opt for it at every opportunity, however rare it seems.

President Gerald Ford, finishing his resigned predecessor’s second term, represented the literal runout of the Nixon years, which embodied an entire era of personal repression and political violence, and Jimmy Carter was voted in as its definitive eclipse. Not long after, Carter came to be seen as the symbol of a more general decline in American vigor and confidence that needed to be swept away by Ronald Reagan. Americans saw no need to rock the boat when Reagan was reelected in a landslide, or when his successor, George H. W. Bush, acted as a kind of caretaker of his legacy. When the first President Bush came to be seen as much lesser than his predecessor and the representative of an old guard of antiquated ideas and out-of-touch, monocultural attitudes, he was swept away by the modern-seeming Bill Clinton. Again, Clinton was granted renewed caretakership of the good times his administration brought in, and when that second term was done not enough people thought that the relatively new blood of the opposite party’s George W. Bush would make much difference. They still didn’t seem to see enough of a difference between Bush and Kerry, so Bush was left to mind the store for another term. Upon the collapse of Bush’s policies on every front — from the military action which has proved unpopular and the consequent international image which has proved worrisome, to the pocketbook issues which have more Americans than not fearing for their immediate future for the first time in generations — nothing less than a sweep of his entire party, from statehouses to John McCain’s campaign headquarters, seemed satisfactory to the majority of voters.

It doesn’t hurt that, for the first time in decades, the Democrats put up a candidate with a persona and presence beyond merely not being the other guy you’re supposed to like even less. Barack Obama proved that he’s willing and eager to change direction in a country that at the moment, in its financial stability and its ability to participate in and influence the rest of the world, looks like it has nowhere to go but up. And he enters office at a time when citizens seem ready to be serious about their democracy in ways we haven’t seen in what feels like a lifetime. Bill Clinton presided over an economic boom in which Americans looked inward and enjoyed themselves. Barack Obama inherits hard times in which Americans have to reach out. And reaching out to each other and reconnecting to the world is the only way the outcome of this election could have happened. In every newscast I clicked to last night, after Obama’s historic achievement, suddenly it was okay to talk about race again, to acknowledge not just how far we’ve come as a nation but how far a man like Obama had to travel. There was unrestrained goodwill between the races, and a sense that we’ve come to understand that we’re strongest when our arms are linked. White voters came through and considered the issues and not the surface of the person speaking them; voters of color came together in common cause and rose to an unprecedented opportunity.

Again, looking back, it seems easier to see that a corner had been turned even before November 4th showed that the privileged and the disenfranchised can join in and act as nothing but Americans (and as everything that can mean). It’s significant that, once the primary season had exhausted the attempts to tar Obama by association with a black nationalist preacher, all the McCain campaign could come up with was to tar him by association with a little-known white has-been radical. McCain, overall, ran a remarkably non-racial campaign (if the same can’t be said for his and Palin’s rally crowds), and the volume of petty and irrelevant attacks he and Palin did put forth indicates that they didn’t play the race card very much because it just doesn’t have the face value it once did.

Those attacks are important to remember, however. McCain, while a dignified and sober legislator, became a panicked and small-seeming campaigner. He tried to divert Americans from the downward spiral of their own life savings to trivial broadsides, and he picked an unprepared running mate who was meant to reflect the average person but ended up as a mockery of their merit and striving. The gravity of the task that lies ahead of Barack Obama was etched in his expression even at his victory speech last night. He is one man against a formidable national challenge, and he can’t hide the difficulty. But face it he has to and face it he will, and in this we can see ourselves. John McCain was viewed by many as the more fatherly, confident figure. And he is a commanding one. But in the end, and in fundamental ways, from the partner he picked to the issues he focused on, he was not a responsible one. President John McCain would’ve taken command, but President Barack Obama will take responsibility. Leadership minimizes the individual into a mass of followers; responsibility centers on the individual in shared personal duty. This means that as much will be expected of us as is given by our president. But it means that our country is ours again. Congratulations, and I’ll see you on the first day of the job.

Well here’s something I haven’t seen, ever. I’m in line to vote at our polling place and 10 minutes before the polls open (6am in my state) I’m easily three hundred people from the door. It’s almost enough to make me say heck with it. Almost, but not quite.

The folks in front of me appear to represent the complete demographic of the county I live in: young, old, voters of many colors. Clearly lots of young people voting in their first presidential election.

The line has moved a great deal in the last ten minutes. As we wait, volunteers walk by to provide information: “Letters A through F are on the left side of the table, G through M in the middle, and N through Z on the right.” One young woman walked by offering sample Republican ballots. I couldn’t tell if she was a poll volunteer or campaigning (it’s still dark out). I noticed only one taker in the substantial crowd around me. I vowed to take neither sample ballot or to take both, otherwise it doesn’t feel very secret-ballot like. I note that no sample Democratic ballot has been offered yet.

A young fellow in a jacket and tie walked down the line announcing every few steps, “Hi, I’m Mike from voter protection, we’re here to assist if you run into any problems voting today.” He has the look of a young attorney who’s prepared to save the world one pro bono case at a time. Or maybe he’ll run for office one day.

After 50 minutes of waiting I’m not far now. The fellow behind me was as impatient as he could be, clearly indignant that all these people were here. He said nothing but the way he sighed every minute and shifted from left to right constantly he was the only visibly agitated voter I noticed.

Now I’m in the actual voting room. Despite the maze of long lines there’s a real sense of excitement here, like something new is happening. I heard one veteran volunteer declare, “There’s more people in this room right now than I’ve seen some entire election days.” And there’s still a line that extends outside the building.

Back home after less than 90 minutes from soup to “press here to cast ballot,” and my 4 year old daughter is very impressed with my “I Voted” sticker. “Where did you get that, Daddy?” “Well, I just voted for the president.” Her eyes got wide, “The president gave you that sticker?” And then when my wife came down, preparing to leave for her turn at the polls, my daughter said, “Mommy, look, Daddy boned,” she pointed at the sticker on my shirt. A quick correction from Daddy: “No, little monster, ‘voted.’ The boning booths aren’t in this part of town.”

It will be interesting to see how the day unfolds.

.louis, via blackberry