Specifically, why does it feel so, so different this time around?
Well, first of all... you can never recapture first love.
The second time around is never as thrilling as the first.
That's why seeking thrills will never satisfy in the long run as much as seeking serenity and meaning.
Obama was the first. Kamala Harris is not. There can never again be another first American President who isn't a 'White' guy.
And you can never recapture the thrill of first love.
And that is the main reason it feels so different this time around.
But there are two other reasons that Kamala Harris in 2024 feels so less thrilling than Obama in 2008.
First, we were not fearing the upcoming election in 2008.
And second, we were coming out of a much darker place in 2008 than we are now.
Trust me, I was there.
In the later stages of 'W' Bush's War on Terror it just simply felt numb and hopeless.
We can never again be hopeless like that!
We survived that dark place!
We will always have that!
Nothing we have gone through since Obama is as numb and hopeless!
In 2008 it was like we as a nation were being allowed to be happy for the first time in years!
Like for the first time in years we didn't have to feel embarrassed about feeling something other than fear!
We were coming out of a much darker place in 2008!
We survived that dark place!
And nothing can take that away from us!
And now?
If we can get back to where were were under Obama... that would be so, so great!
But it will never be that numb and hopeless again, like it was in 2007!
God loves you! We'll get through this! France and Belgium got through so much worse than this between 1914 and 1945!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson