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Nov. 5th, 2008
It has been almost three hours since the media projected Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States. The cheers and screams in celebration outside my window and all across campus has died down, as well as the influx of Facebook status messages expressing their joy, relief, and excitement. Horns honked and church bells rang, giving tonight an almost divine quality. I may not have been outside with all the rest of the celebrators, but I doubt I'll ever forget what I heard. I decided to stay away from the sometimes-annoying talking heads of CNN and MSNBC -- if I was going to be sitting in front of a screen all night, it might as well be my laptop's. Lame, perhaps, but it can't touch the strongest feelings I have right now: elation, relief, optimism, contentment. Whatever bitterness I've held about the whole campaign over the past year or so has dissipated, and hope -- yes, that ol' buzzword again -- has come back into focus.
I'll remember tonight for a lot of reasons. It was the first time I've ever voted in my life, and it was an extremely worthwhile experience. Voting by absentee ballot may not be as romantic as standing in line for hours, waiting for your turn in the voting booth, but no matter. I voted for the first major black candidate for president -- and he won. Not only is this an achievement in and of itself, I hope that I can look back on this time as one where America, at least temporarily, changed for the better. After eight years of arrogance, bungled wars, environmental deterioration, and economic meltdowns, I look forward to four years that, if not completely different, are at least a step or three in the right direction.
Of course, you never know. Obama may turn out to be one of the best presidents we've ever known, or as bad as Bush or worse. And the kinds of things he needs to do -- get the economy back on track, do something to slow down climate change, make America more respected in the world community, etc. -- require almost superhuman abilities, someone who is almost perfect. But no man or woman could ever hope to be that perfect. Not even Obama is perfect -- he has his flaws just like everyone else, and there are times when he just needs to be a politician, and of course he will screw up often, and screw up big time. But if his campaign is anything to go by, he should do a better job than all the naysayers would predict. I'm sure he will do a better job than Bush. Almost any candidate for this election cycle would have done better than Bush, even McCain. None of the candidates would have endangered the country as much as Bush has -- that much I'm certain, and it's something everyone needs to know, even if they already do. But I also believe that Obama would do a better job at moving our nation forward than McCain would have, and because of that I am proud (if not completely surprised) of tonight's results.
Speaking of John McCain, I was happy with his concession speech tonight. It was respectful, even in the face of boos and jeers from the crowd, and it was the John McCain I wish I saw on the campaign trail. It was a great speech, and I most sincerely wish him and all his supporters the best.
It looks like the electoral count has stalled for the past couple of hours, so there's not much else to see. I'll probably watch Obama's speech tonight some other time -- it's not important to me right now. I need to get some sleep, and I blew off work today just to focus on refreshing Firefox just to get the latest results. Considering my reading has been piling up (not that I'll do all of it, of course -- I just have to know what ones I can skip), it was a mistake. But on such a historic night as this, perhaps just this once it can be forgiven. XD Anyway, I'm sure I'll catch up somehow.
Good luck, Barack. You're going to need all you can get.
I'll remember tonight for a lot of reasons. It was the first time I've ever voted in my life, and it was an extremely worthwhile experience. Voting by absentee ballot may not be as romantic as standing in line for hours, waiting for your turn in the voting booth, but no matter. I voted for the first major black candidate for president -- and he won. Not only is this an achievement in and of itself, I hope that I can look back on this time as one where America, at least temporarily, changed for the better. After eight years of arrogance, bungled wars, environmental deterioration, and economic meltdowns, I look forward to four years that, if not completely different, are at least a step or three in the right direction.
Of course, you never know. Obama may turn out to be one of the best presidents we've ever known, or as bad as Bush or worse. And the kinds of things he needs to do -- get the economy back on track, do something to slow down climate change, make America more respected in the world community, etc. -- require almost superhuman abilities, someone who is almost perfect. But no man or woman could ever hope to be that perfect. Not even Obama is perfect -- he has his flaws just like everyone else, and there are times when he just needs to be a politician, and of course he will screw up often, and screw up big time. But if his campaign is anything to go by, he should do a better job than all the naysayers would predict. I'm sure he will do a better job than Bush. Almost any candidate for this election cycle would have done better than Bush, even McCain. None of the candidates would have endangered the country as much as Bush has -- that much I'm certain, and it's something everyone needs to know, even if they already do. But I also believe that Obama would do a better job at moving our nation forward than McCain would have, and because of that I am proud (if not completely surprised) of tonight's results.
Speaking of John McCain, I was happy with his concession speech tonight. It was respectful, even in the face of boos and jeers from the crowd, and it was the John McCain I wish I saw on the campaign trail. It was a great speech, and I most sincerely wish him and all his supporters the best.
It looks like the electoral count has stalled for the past couple of hours, so there's not much else to see. I'll probably watch Obama's speech tonight some other time -- it's not important to me right now. I need to get some sleep, and I blew off work today just to focus on refreshing Firefox just to get the latest results. Considering my reading has been piling up (not that I'll do all of it, of course -- I just have to know what ones I can skip), it was a mistake. But on such a historic night as this, perhaps just this once it can be forgiven. XD Anyway, I'm sure I'll catch up somehow.
Good luck, Barack. You're going to need all you can get.
