On Tuesday, November 4th, 2008, we Americans elected our 44th President Barack Obama. Whether you were with him or against him, you have to marvel at the turnout and the excitement that was felt on this election day. Although I am an Senator Obama backer, I was nervous as I headed to the rally. Would this be a victory rally? While we waited in line to get into the park, many people were glued to their cell phones, feverously texting and surfing away to get any glimpse they could of exit polls and east coast poll closings. An hour or so of waiting in line and three security checkpoints later, we were able to get to the rally grounds. We arrived early, but we were nowhere near the stage. It felt like a rock concert. In fact, the last time I saw a crowd even close to this size was when Pearl Jam played the exact same location, in 2007.
We watched as the polls closed on CNN on a jumbo tron in the park and everything appeared to be going according to predictions. When it was shown that Ohio has gone to Senator Obama, the electricity started to build and people would feel the victory would soon be here for Senator Obama. It was amazing as the night went on. Hundreds of thousands of people, and we were all there for one unified cause. I have never seen a crowd anywhere near this size that was so incredibly diverse and so unbelievably peaceful. People of every age, every race, every sexual orientation were there standing side by side, and not only were they tolerating each other, but they were enjoying each other and celebrating with each other. I watched as polls closed, one by one, and some states went to Obama while others to McCain. It felt like it would be a long night, but things were definitely heading the direction everyone had hoped. And then suddenly, it was over.
CNN announced that polls had started to close on the West coast, Obama took Virginia, and suddenly the screen flashed that Barack Obama was our next President. The crowd collectively whooped in joy. People were laughing and crying and pumping their fists in the air in triumph. I watched black people hugging white people, Asians hugging Latinos, and strangers putting their arms around each other, chanting, “YES WE DID!” The noise was deafening, but even more prevalent than that was the energy. I could absolutely feel the happiness, peace, and pure love emanating from the hundreds of thousands of people around me. After President-Elect Obama gave his acceptance speech, we poured out into the streets of Chicago and had a celebration that I doubt has ever been matched. Hundreds of thousands of people filled Michigan Avenue and it’s surrounding streets. People were dancing and singing, they were hanging from traffic lights, climbing all over the medians, and posing for pictures with Chicago Police. There were no skirmishes, no drunken fights, just pure celebration.
As President Elect Obama said in his acceptance speech on Tuesday night, “This is our moment, this is our time. To put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids. To restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace. To reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many we are one, that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism and doubt and those that tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people, YES WE CAN!“
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