Annie Rothkopf

Thirty-five years ago, I moved to Chicago from London. We settled in the Near North, and like so many of our friends, my husband and I were not interested in politics. Then, in 2003, a great friend invited me to a small gathering at her house to meet an "inspiring young state senator." She had met him while she was working with a community organization. There was Barack Obama, and it was then that nearly all of us at my friend's house realized that this was a man who had entered politics not so much to earn a living as actually to make things better for all of us. He spoke of his efforts to reform state government and to help the disenfranchised in our city and state. His thinking was strategic. He was not looking for quick fixes, but for fundamental changes to our systems. This group of people immediately understood that Barack was not only a very intelligent and charismatic person, but someone whose instincts were to make decisions based on the correct moral grounds, and not for political expediancy. We all felt that he could make a difference in this challenging world. Most of us had children attending a particular high school, and we asked the senator if he would speak to the student body at this school. He graciously consented, and our kids, too, were newly inspired about politics. When Barack ran for the US Senate, some of them worked alongside of some of us for his election. They are now working avidly at their various colleges for his presidential campaign. I am sorry to say that my great friend has since died of cancer, but all of us who were at that gathering five years ago remember her not only for what a great woman she was, but also for her prescience with regard to a man who represents possibly our only remaining chance for national redemption, Barack Obama.