Wow. I followed this election on and off throughout the night, but mostly on as time went on. Mr. President Elect, you had me at Ohio. And Pennsylvania? Colorado? Florida? 338 to 156 at present.
I wrote eons ago about Obama’s utopian rhetoric, and after hearing his acceptance speech tonight (not to mention these final months of campaigning) I have to say that my respect and admiration has steadily grown, and I’m greatly looking forward to seeing what comes next. My one request would be, “Hard left on the tiller, sir,” but I don’t think that’s going to happen. And I know the rhetoric is working when I’m left thinking that maybe that’s for the best.
One other thing as I watched NBC’s coverage. The shots of the crowd in Arizona were pretty striking. Old, white, and wealthy seemed to be the overwhelming population—not surprising. The folks in Grant Park? A bit more representative in terms of age, race, and if I had to guess, class. And for me, the most moving thing of the whole night were the scenes from Howard University, where the African American students and their advisors were too overcome with emotion to find words.
I’ve been thinking all week: was it worth eight years of Bush for this? After tonight, I’m pretty sure it was.
Current Mood: Ecstatic/Relieved/Exhausted | 
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4 Comments
President Obama (GOD that looks good!) will have to work miracles to make whatever happens next worth eight years of Bush. That said, after eight years of Bush I think we deserved a night like Tuesday night–and many more to come.
I’m thinking in terms of psychological effects this may have for non-whites in this country. Had Gore or Kerry won, when would we have seen a black president?
To me, that alone is huge. It’s great that African Americans have had made progress in fields like politics, law, medicine, etc. but you have to say the most prominent role models for young African Americans have been athletes, and that’s not all to the good. But having a black man as The Most Powerful Man In the World? On the news every night? On the cover of Time and Newsweek?
Better. Much better.
Agreed. I heard an interview on NPR with some African-Americans in a job training program, and the talk turned to the election. One of the men said something like, “A black person can be anything but white and president. Michael Jackson proved the first theory wrong, so Obama’s next.”
I love that quote from NPR.
Dr. Phil