Ronnie Polaneczky: My wishes for a new American vocabulary

TWO DAYS ago, as I cast my hope for Barack Obama, I didn't want to leave the blue-curtained cocoon of the voting booth. The occasion was too momentous to conclude with a gesture as quick and tiny as the press of a button - a gesture that never before made me cry.

Nor had I ever before closed my eyes and pressed my hand over the names of those I was voting for, willing hope - what Emily Dickinson called "this thing with feathers" - to move through my fingers and into the presidential candidate I desperately wanted to represent me.

But I did on Tuesday.

Through tears, I pulled my camera from my purse and snapped a photo of my glowing, electronic vote before I sent it through the ether to join 62 million other prayers for a new, better America.

A place that embraces, as our forefathers did, a spirit of Yes, we can over We'd better not try.

And, thrillingly, a place with broader, bolder definitions of words whose meanings and images we all hold dear.

So here are my wishes for a new American vocabulary, in the aftermath of our country's most historic election.

May the word "patriot" apply to all who love America and fight for its ideals - not only with bravery and arms on foreign soil, but with courage and vision in our classrooms, streets, courtrooms and halls of government.

May the values of hard work, tolerance, love of brother and reverence for a spirit bigger than all of us be recognized not just as the provenance of America's small towns but also of its rural outposts, big cities and any place where hearts beat with dignity and decency.

May the word "family" transcend color and gender, blood lines and generational succession. May it evince images of kindness, resilience and endless belief in those bound to us by love and commitment.

May "father" mean something real in every child's life.

And may the word "president" reflect someone whose character we so trust and respect, we proudly hang his - or her - photo on the living-room wall, the way we once did John F. Kennedy's.

The days between now and Obama's inauguration in January will be exultant for those who voted for him and, perhaps, dread-filled for those who didn't.

I'm not one of those Obama supporters who believe that all McCain voters were appalled by the thought of a black man in the Oval Office. There are good people everywhere; their concerns for America are as personal and nuanced as mine are.

But I confess that the regard I feel for McCain's voters is new for me. I've felt so let down by the man in the White House these last eight years, it's been tough to find anything kind to say about anyone in the Republican party.

After Bush's 2004 election, I recall, I wrote a heartbroken column exhorting him to "kiss my liberal, Democrat-voting behind."

It was not my most gracious moment.

Obama, though, makes me want to be bigger than my meanest impulses. In his victory speech Tuesday night - and generally throughout his campaign - he was so expansive toward McCain supporters, I felt willing, finally, to see that we all yearn for the same things.

If we're all the same despite our skin color, maybe we're all the same despite our political leanings, too.

Even if that's not the reality today, unless we start acting like it is, it'll never be a reality tomorrow.

So my final wish for a new American vocabulary is that we start putting "Country First" by putting respect for each other's hopes and dreams first.

That means all of us, Democrats and Republicans alike. *

E-mail polaner@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2217. For recent columns:

http://go.philly.com/polaneczky