By Lisa Daftari, UWIRE correspondent
“If the day before the presidential election, you told me Obama will win, I’d be very disappointed,” said Jonathan Yaghoubzadeh, a 27-year-old attorney from Los Angeles.
But when the moment arrived, something inside him changed.
“I watched on TV as the world celebrated and people were actually crying,” he said. “It was a very moving experience. That night I was very proud of my country.”
Yaghoubzadeh, a self-proclaimed right-wing moderate, did not feel confident voting for Obama. Having political experience is important and Obama’s years in politics was insufficient, he said. It was also the list of people with whom Obama was associated that was alarming, according to Yaghoubzadeh.
“The issue most important to me is foreign policy, specifically, national security and the war on terror. I felt the one thing President Bush and the Republicans have been right on is being on the offense about the war on terror and not appeasing terror groups,” he said supporting why he voted for Sen. John McCain.
“I thought Obama would appease these groups.”
Despite the fact that Obama did not win his vote, Yaghoubzadeh traveled across the country to be in D.C. for the inauguration.
“I may disagree with some of his policies, (but) there is no denying that this election is historic, and I want to be there to witness it,” he said.
Joining the thousands of other people on the Mall, including his own brother Joshua, a fourth year UCLA student currently interning for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Yaghoubzadeh is looking forward to the excitement and high-energy crowds. The most anticipated moment for him though, will be to see Obama put his hand on the Bible and be sworn in as the first African American president, he said.
“It’s a celebration and testament to what this country is and the opportunities it affords its citizens,” according to Yaghoubzadeh. “I don’t see Obama’s Inauguration Day as a celebration of his policies, but I see it as a celebration of how far America has come.”
Yaghoubzadeh, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Iran, understands the magnitude of Obama’s victory more than anyone. Here is a man whose middle name and skin color may have worked against him in the past, but this Inauguration is symbolic of how far this country has come, he said.
“I think a lot of our fears that he’d come from the far left have also been alleviated since Election Day,” Yaghoubzadeh said.
Obama has won more support from the middle and right with cabinet choices that have “demonstrated a more moderate way forward rather than the liberal perception that many of us who voted for McCain had of him,” Yaghoubzadeh said, citing Rahm Emanuel, Robert Gates and Hillary Clinton as examples.
“Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, we might not agree on the means, but the end is the same. We are trying to do what’s best for our country. We hope he succeeds.”
Lisa Daftari earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California and an undergraduate degree in Middle East studies, Spanish and vocal performance from Rutgers University. Her stories have appeared on CBS, NBC, PBS, the Washington Post and Voice of America.
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