Our Next President
As the missus and I (and a couple of friends) watched returns last night, I was mostly just stunned, as Pennsylvania went to Obama, then Ohio, then Virginia. I just kept shaking my head, teetering on the edge of tears as the sheer weight of the historic moment swept over me.
Well, I teetered, that is, until this image came up at the end of Obama's speech, and then the tears flowed freely.
This concept of being moved by the outcome of an election is totally foreign to me. Honest to god, I think the last time I was unabashedly thrilled by the election of a president, I was four-years-old, and Jimmy Carter had just beaten Gerald Ford.
Even after twelve years of Reagan and Bush I, when Clinton was elected, I didn't feel this way. He hadn't really won me over, and even though I voted for Clinton in '92, I did so unenthusiastically.
This is most certainly different. Jesus Christ: Am I actually feeling hope?
How the fuck did he do that?
Labels: politics
posted by Dan G @ 9:27 AM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
that image of jesse jackson crying is pretty moving :)
he's Barack. that's how.
Yeah, I cried too. I didn't expect that and have never done that before, even though I happily waited in line for hours in Lawrence to vote for Clinton in 1992. I think it was the fact that after they announced that he'd gone over the top, the talking heads were just silent for about ten minutes, showing the thousands of people cheering all over the world, not just here, that made me realize what a truly historic moment I'd just been a part of. And being a historian, that was pretty cool.
It was also gratitude and disbelief that the GOP didn't figure out a way to steal another election!
One of the best days I can recall. What a day. "What a country" (too bad Tim Russert wasn't here to witness it all)
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