Election Night 2008

It’s a great night. As Barack said, this is our time, this is our moment. And I want to remember it forever.

Such a roller-coaster of emotions today. Waking up early knowing that it’s Election Day 2008. Heading off to the polling place in a tizzy, and proudly casting my vote for Obama-Biden! Going through the motions of class and work, but breaking out into excited dances whenever I remember what day it is :)

Then loading up 10 Messiah Dems to go Get Out The Vote in Upper Allen Twp. The adrenaline was high as we ran from place to place, racing against the ticking clock and darkening sky to get people to the polls. We searched for house numbers that didn’t seem to exist. We ran into some strange people. We got lost and turned around a lot. But it was all part of the adventure :) Most of the people I met were enthusiastic and had already voted for Obama. Kids broke in “O-B-A-M-A” cheers as we went by :) So it was certainly worthwhile. I felt like we were doing something important for the campaign, and it was fun doing it together.

After finishing our door-knocking, we headed to the Camp Hill Obama HQ to get some food. It was packed with people and hopping with activity – you could feel the energy pulsating through the place. After getting a few bites of food down, we were given call sheets to check in with more people to see if they’d voted. Plenty of wrong numbers and no answers, but most I did talk to had voted for Obama! As the minutes counted down, we went through the sheets as fast as we could, finally stopping at 7:55pm. It was done – now we just had to wait and see how it turned out.

Everyone gathered around where MSNBC was being projected, not knowing how long we’d have to wait for the results. But as soon as the polls closed, they called PA for Obama! The place went absolutely nuts – we were all cheering and yelling, and the campaign people were crying and hugging eachother. These were the people who had put their lives on hold for this campaign, working 20 hour days for weeks on end – and they had done it! We had done it :) It was such an amazing feeling – after all of the hard work poured into this, we had turned PA blue. And to have PA as the very first state called – wow, that was just icing on the cake :) Soon everyone was on their cell phones calling family and friends as we continued to ride on the euphoria of the moment. We had won PA for Obama! YES!

Shortly after that, we decided to head back to campus to watch the rest of the returns come in – but not before hugs and congratulations to the campaign folks we had gotten to know. Complete strangers, really, but this campaign and this victory bound us together in a way that’s hard for people outside to understand. But we shared the joy together in that moment.

Dropping in at the Union to get some food, we paused to celebrate PA (and Obama’s other wins so far) with others that we knew. Then headed en masse to Kyle’s house to watch the rest. At that point Obama was up pretty significantly, so we were excited but there were still plenty of states left. As they were called for Obama we cheered, and in between just chatted about political and non-political things :) A lot of watching and waiting, as each hour brought more poll closings and more states called. Obama was wracking up the Electoral Votes, and it didn’t look like McCain had much of a chance. At 11pm the West Coast states closed their polls, and we stood up to do the countdown, knowing that this could mean Obama had won. At exactly 11pm, CNN flashed – “Barack Obama elected President!” We went nuts – everyone was jumping up and down and screaming and crying. I didn’t anticipate how emotional I would get, but this was it – Obama was President! Everyone hugged everyone – we had done it!

With the adrenaline sky-rocketing, we raced to the Union for our victory lap. We go in and just start screaming and clapping – everyone’s starring at us, but we don’t care. We hug other Obama supporters, and then take it out outside to scream again. Such an amazing feeling – celebrating together our next President. Once our voices had gotten hoarse and our limbs had tired from constant motion, we returned inside again. It was group picture time for the Messiah College Democrats/Students for Barack Obama – under the red, white, and blue balloons no less :) There was still so much excitement in the air – we were still trying to wrap our heads around what had just happened. We all had kind of thought it would turn out that way, but now it was REAL, and we were beside ourselves!

Before too long it was time for the Concession speech from McCain. We had been kind of gleefully looking forward to this, but as he spoke we were impressed by how respectful and humble and articulate he was – it was a really good speech, as he gracefully conceded the highest office in the land.

Later on we took over the Blue couch to watch Obama’s Acceptance speech to the thronging crowds in Chicago. Seeing their faces – young and old, black and white, men and women – was inspiring. Some had tears running down their faces, others held American flags. All waited with us in anticipation of President-Elect Obama.

When he came onto the stage with his family, we were clapping not for our candidate anymore, but the President of our country. He had many heartfelt thank-you’s to those who had helped and supported him along the way, and then launched into an amazing speech. It was inspiring as well as pragmatic, and it sounded very Presidential. WE helped make this happen. This is OUR moment too. OUR time is NOW. And this is our President :)

That is what finally hit home for me, as Obama and Biden stood up on stage together, waving to the crowds with epic music playing in the background. It gave me chills. The only President I have clear memories of is Bush – that’s all I know. He’s been in office so long that it’s difficult to fully realize that this is the end – Obama and Biden will be leading our country starting Jan 20.

It’s hard to put into words what this Election means – but it’s fundamentally about CHANGE and HOPE, both of which Obama has restored our faith in. He is the right person at the right time for us. With such a landslide in the Electoral Collage he has a mandate from the American people spanning all demographic groups. And with Democratic majorities in both House and Senate, he has a real opportunity to implement his agenda. Normally a cynic, I am just SO excited to see what he will do!

And I’m SO glad that I had the privilege to be part of this. It IS historic, and I know I will be telling these stories to my grandchildren someday…