In a room full of young democrats, most of whom have spent their entire politically aware life under the Bush Administration, Ben Barnes made me cry for the third time of the night. He spoke about LBJ signing the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and looking him in the eye to tell him he was young enough that he would see a black man elected president. And so it has happened. It is still sinking in for me, and I don't think I can do justice to the way I feel right now, so I will just go through the last 24 hours. . .
7:00 a.m. Alarm goes off, hit snooze
7:40 a.m. Out of bed, dressed, and NPR is on the radio. They're talking about how Jim Steinberg, Dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs has the potential to be the most influential Texan in an Obama administration. I have 4 texts from people back east who have already voted.
8:40 a.m. Arrive at school for my first Writing 2 class. Coffee in hand, I'm reading blogs and hoping. Just hoping.
12:30 p.m. Eating lunch with a few girls from school, and Aaron Piersol walks by. He's good looking. We talk about Obama, Prop 8, and that this is a great day.
5:03 p.m. Kuperman tortures us with a midterm review, I get an A-, then we talk about the environment. Kendra and I, dressed like twins, help spread 4th of July like decorations around the TCC, and I try not to vomit with excitement.
7:00 p.m. People trickle in, I meet Ben Barnes, and we start drinking. Open bar + election excitement = slow, steady stream of gin and tonics. Shortly after, it's 8-3 McCain. Damn you, Kentucky.
7:53 p.m. They're projecting Shaheen to win in New Hampshire, along with Barack. Dad sends me a text that makes me cry, 'Mom and I may have made a difference'.
8:18 p.m. I get a text from JMo that just says 'Ohio!!!' We're watching CNN, who hasn't called it yet, but I spread the news that Fox painted Ohio blue. Dad sends me a message two minutes later that says 'Ohio! Yes! Kick ass Obama!'. I love my Dad.
8:44 p.m. Sarah Fisher asks me for my outlook. I'm confident.
9:30 p.m. Dad sends me a message that makes me wish I was in Scituate. I had sent him something snarky about Mississippi being red and that we were giving the kid who had the same major at the same college 40 years after him a hard time. "I'm watching TV with the sound off and watching Monty Python videos on youtube. Don't give the kid from Milsaps a hard time". UNreal.
9:52 p.m. Virgina turns blue. California plus the other gimmes are going to do it.
9:59 p.m. We count down to 10 like it might be New Years and the TV says Barack Obama elected President. We scream, we hug, we cry, we shout. My phone blows up. It's Dad. Screaming, "It's a fucking black guy, Sarie! It's a black guy! You kids did it". He's crying. I can tell. I'm crying. Erica, herself half black, is sobbing. Katie, who just lost a friend to cancer, is sobbing. I'm sobbing.
10:12 p.m. Jared sends me a text, "That just happened". I know. I can't believe it either.
The next hour and a half or so is spent watching McCain's extremely dignified concession speech and waiting for Obama to speak. When he finally does, it's incredible. He channels Lincoln, JFK, and MLK. He's every bit confident, dignified, inspiring, and eloquent. He's teary. I'm teary. Everyone's teary. Then we head downtown. There are people in the street, I'm still getting texts from the east coast. We do Obama shots. They're terrible, but I don't care. Everyone is elated. And it feels so good. I get home and fall asleep around 4am. Waking up this morning was incredible. Sarah Fisher's 11:27 text said "We live in a new and amazing world". She's right.
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