Election Eve

In the library today, feeling overwhelmed by feelings of excitement and hope about tomorrow (now today) and what I feel is the most important election that might ever happen in my life, a group of us described similar feelings about this Election Eve. Independently, three of us, and then Nicole later over gchat, described it as our Christmas Eve. I feel like I'm 6 years old again, consumed with excitement about the next 24 hours. There is a nagging fear that goes along with Christmas excitement--the chance that Mom and Dad didn't get you the gift you were hoping for all year long. In this case, I have been waiting for the gift of an Obama Presidency since he entered the race, and this election since March of 2003. At least. So yes, I fear the ultimate upset. I would not be a good Democrat (or Red Sox fan for that matter) if I did not. But my feelings of fear are overshadowed by immense hope. Hope that turnout will be incredible, that we will overwhelm the crumbling GOP machine with sheer volume. Hope that we are beyond our racist past, and that white folks from Pennsylvania will pull the lever next to the name of a "n*****" (their words, not mine). Hope that on November 5th, we can start to rebuild the America we knew not too long ago, and that we can restore the world's faith in us as the leader of the free world. Hope that we really can make a difference and that we really can do great things together. Just hope.