Yes We Did!
November 5th, 2008. Published under General. No Comments.
I just sat on my couch dumbstruck when I heard Brian Williams on NBC call the election for Obama just shortly after the polls closed on the West Coast. I sat there wondering if that was true and waiting for the other shoe to drop. For something to go wrong again, something to snatch the hope away from me again. Once again to be crushed.
I had hope and excitement earlier in the night when Pennsylvania went for Obama and when Kay Hagan beat Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina and opening the door for Obama to win NC (which he did). When NPR said that Indiana was “too close to call” I had a jump in my heart rate. Indiana? Too close? I was amazed. However, every time someone “called” a state for Obama, I had this inner cringe reminiscent of 2000 and Florida. But the status of those states never changed.
Ohio.
Florida.
Indiana.
North Carolina.
Pennsylvania.
Iowa.
New Mexico.
The states just kept coming and not changing. Then the call from Williams that Barack Obama would be the next President of the United States. I was blown away. I didn’t know what to do or how to react. I was in shock. Then McCain gave his concession speech where we finally saw a glimpse of the good man he was and that I liked from 2000. Then Obama spoke to the country, no, the world. I sat there with hands clasped watching the world change before my eyes. This quote really struck home to me (bold my emphasis):
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let’s remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
Like Tim said to me, “I’m a cynical bastard and even I have hope with Obama.”
My friend Jen called me in tears because she was so happy. I just felt disbelief. Was it really over? Did we really win? Really?
Today, I sit here thankful and so very happy with the change that will be coming to the White House in January.
So, after all that seriousness, some funny:
Hee!
Recent Comments