November 4th, 2008. I truly thought I would be awake until 3 am waiting for CNN to predict the next president. D.C. youth spilled out of their apartments and flooded the streets around the White House and on U Street. Laughter, tears, and cheering inundated news stations around the world. People across the planet saw Barack Hussein Obama as the necessary change the world needed, and celebrated accordingly. The Facebook news feed went crazy with congratulations from one side and negative rhetoric from the other.
McCain’s concession speech was honorable and could not have been more appropriate. If he had been as level-headed and what I call the “real McCain” during the entire election instead of so negative and rash, I truly think the election might have been different.
I waited patiently to hear Obama speak for the first time as president-elect, and I realized as he walked onto the stage that something truly did change in this country. His message is for change, but more importantly, he stressed unification. I wasn’t one of those people crying, but it was a very emotional moment in American History. To be in D.C. during this time was truly something that I will appreciate for the rest of my life.
I couldn’t stop smiling the next day, but I was also sad that I had to find something new to obsess over everyday. The transition period is really interesting now, but it doesn’t have that same charge that the election did.
Anyway, it felt like Christmas on November 5th; people were drinking mimosas, and the world started to like us again. I hope the Republicans can salvage what is left of their splintered party and find a way to bolster leadership and growth, but until then I am going to enjoy a Democratically run government. It’s about time we get in there and clean up this mess.
Until next time…
Timmy V
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