You thought Tuesday's presidential election was about politics?
Not so fast.
We heard about "Joe The Plumber," and we heard about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
We watched Barack Obama accept his party's nomination in front of an unprecedented crowd.
We watched John McCain select a "pit bull with lipstick" as his running mate. (And we watched Tina Fey poke fun at her.)
But somewhere between the pundits' projections and sketch-comedy routines on "Saturday Night Live," the most important talking point was never talked about: As much as this election was about the issues, it was also about restoring faith in the American Dream.
It's the classic immigrant story of rags to riches.
It's a white picket fence and a yard full of kids.
It's the hope that one day we can provide more for our children than our parents could provide for us.
Love him or hate him, it's hard to deny that Obama is a hope-dealer. In fact, for this Washington rookie it may have been his saving grace throughout the election cycle. Despite his relative inexperience, he consistently delivered a message of change from the status quo.
We first met him as the Illinois senator with humble roots.
He's a man who was raised by his mother and grandmother and who put himself through college.
He's a mixed-American with a father from Kenya.
Just the guy next door.
It's an image that he stuck to for the duration of campaign season.
Just look at Indiana, a state that hasn't gone blue in a presidential election since 1964, when it voted for Lyndon B. Johnson.
Through Get-Out-The-Vote initiatives and fund-raising strategies, Obama consistently portrayed himself as the typical "everyman" (who just happened to be running for president).
We saw this in May when Ball State University senior Joshua PeConge was able to meet Obama at the Indiana Jefferson/Jackson dinner for being a top contributor in phone bank calls made.
Then by taking advantage of Indiana's reputation as a state with a deep love for basketball, Obama energized the youth vote by offering a 3-on-3 contest for a high school student and two friends for completing voter registration applications.
Time and time again, in our state and others, the senator successfully managed to portray himself as accessible and relatable - a departure from the traditionally elitist image that politicians possess.
In September, comedian Chris Rock weighed in on the issue while appearing on "Larry King Live." For Rock, just like your average "Joe the Plumber," being able to relate to the candidates is extremely important.
"I try to talk about politics in a way a guy that works at UPS can understand," Rock said.
While image defines a candidate, finances enable the campaign to function. The two work hand-in-hand and are unequivocally connected. But even when it came to financing his campaign, Obama made it a point to keep the focus on the people.
According to Opensecrets.org, a Web site that tracks campaign contributions, Sen. Obama raised $279 million more than Sen. McCain throughout the duration of campaign season. Taking it a step further, the Boston Globe reported in April that for the first time in presidential campaign history, Obama reached more than two million individual donors. The average donation was under $200.
"It's a positive sign that more people are getting involved in something that for so long has been the province of the very wealthy elite few," Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, said.
In acknowledging the milestone, Obama said on his Web site, "Today we achieved something amazing - 2,000,000 donors owning a piece of this campaign."
From day one the Illinois senator defined this campaign as being about restoring faith in the American Dream. About it being a campaign by the people for the people.
Any candidate could have done it, and it has never solely been about party politics.
It will take years to assess whether the best candidate won, but regardless, the American people have resoundingly spoken.
Elitism may have just lost its place in politics.
Kyle Ellis is a senior majoring in journalism graphics and writes 'The Cardinal Rule' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Kyle at kpellis@bsu.edu
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