As Michelle Obama said, ‘Hope is making a comeback.’ But we still have work to do | Opinion

As I write this column, we are halfway through the Democratic National Convention (DNC), which ended Thursday in Chicago. As I watched, I kept thinking this was the beginning of a new day for America. And like many viewers, I was impressed by the speakers.

I know I am a sentimentalist at heart, but I simply loved it when the second gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke unashamedly of his courtship and the love and respect that he has for his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, and how she was instrumental in meshing their families so beautifully.

I didn’t really know who Gov. Tim Walz was before he was announced as Harris’ running mate. I had no idea of his background, his family or what he had accomplished in his 60 years of living.

I got to know him a little better as I read about him. But I really got to know him during the convention, through the words of the speakers and through his own words.

I liked what I saw and heard. We got to know Walz as a man of integrity, that he had been a teacher of social studies as well as a coach. He is a man who loves his family, his country and served both well. I learned that he is a man who respects women, and does not judge those whose lifestyles might be different from his.

The more I learned about Walz, the more I started to feel that, yes, he is the right fit to run as the next vice president of the United States. In the words of President Joe Biden, Harris made a “great decision” in picking Walz as her running mate.

His personality is so refreshing. I like his down-to-earth attitude. I am not surprised that he was well loved and respected as teacher and a coach, or that he loved and respected them back.

Yet, I know that it is going to take more than a good and refreshing personality to win this election. America is hurting. People are tired of the hatefulness and division that has been alive in our country for too long.

The American people want to see some positive changes. We want to go to the polls and vote our conviction on Election Day without being afraid of the “blood bath” that has been predicted if the election outcome isn’t what some wanted.

It is my hope that those who are running for the highest office in the land will take the time to listen to the people they say they want to serve. We, the people, are tired of insults and name calling. We don’t want to see examples of bullying.

We want those who are seeking to lead our country to be examples of honesty and loyalty and integrity. After all, we are all in this together.

There is work to be done. I recently saw on the morning news that in some states, teachers have been armed with guns to help keep our children safe in school. This is a disgrace.

What a shame to place another burden on our already overworked teachers, who by the way, also happen to be grossly underpaid. And many teachers are already responsible for up to 30 children per classroom.

Every day I pray that someone with an assault rifle doesn’t find a way into some school, church, concert, or any other place and murder innocent children and other victims. The work that needs to be done includes being about the business of instituting gun laws that work.

Homelessness in America is another blight on our country’s communities. I drove down a street near downtown Miami the other day, and it saddened me to see homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk. It was more than 90 degrees outside.

Yet, block after block, human beings were strewn along the street, some of them families, living under makeshift tents and umbrellas. Homelessness is a national problem, and it is something that we need to eradicate.

Many people are living from paycheck to paycheck, barely able to make ends meet. Paying the working class a decent wage and building more affordable housing would help.

But there are many more problems facing the American people that need to be solved. It is going to take all of us, working together to bring about the changes that we need.

So, my fellow Americans, this election isn’t about Harris’ laugh, although I love her laugh. It isn’t about her being a woman of color. It isn’t about Donald Trump.

It is about doing what is right for the American people. It is about bringing about change that really matters.

As former first lady Michelle Obama said in her speech Tuesday night, “Hope is making a comeback.”

But I want us to keep in mind something that the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the Democratic senator from Georgia, also said in his speech: “A vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children.”

To that, I simply say: Amen.