The diversity in the crowd in Chicago was a beautiful thing to see. The look of joy and hope on those faces of so many colors and, even more importantly, so many backgrounds, gives me hope. Hope for an America that values every citizen.
When I saw this on my TV screen, this is when my own tears started. This is the second time this man has brought tears to my eyes. His Democratic Convention address in 1988 did it, and then when I saw those tears streaming down his face last night, my own started. I don't always agree with him, and he has some problems, but he has been fighting not for this night, but for the opportunity this night represents, for most of his life. Thank you, Mr. Jackson, you deserve those tears. Hope is alive.
What a beautiful first family. I'm so proud for the world to see America tonight.
Hope is a beautiful thing.
17 comments:
I was pleased to see that Congress is Democratic too. This will help Obama focus for the next couple of years. Boy, does this country need that.
Sorry to see that Texas didn't vote with you. (Silly Texans) Of course, I'm still waiting to find out which way my state (NC) is gonna go. My county is so heavily Republican, I learned, that every Republican on the ballot won this county, even if they didn't win their race. Compare that to Wake County with Raleigh at its heart which voted for every Democrat whether they won or not.
But hey, we got rid of Libby Dole, so I'm happy.
Hey handsome... boy... we can now breath. I'm with you too. What an amazing night. Had I had your phone number (scary!) we could have talked all night... ha ha... I feel such a sense of relief. We have a chance now. He's going to have an uphill battle, but it's a beginning. Where Obama won was his ability to keep it "clean"... McCain lost when he tried tearing Barack down.. It back fired on him and the American people fell in love with Barack and his gorgeous loving family. Kids in the White House. Oh, it's so wonderful. Hope. Dream. Believe..
p.s. thrilled to death Elizabeth Dole is "out"..
Stomach stopped churning.
Tears of joy have been wept.
Now work begins - there is a lot of cleaning up to do.
Thanks to all those lovely Americans who made this possible.
First thing I did this morning was turn on the BBC website so I could listen to Obama's acceptance speech. It was so inspiring; so generous. Tears were rolling down my face. I hope that everyone who didn't vote for him felt as included and soothed by his eloquent vision as I did.
I loved how you said, "Hope for an America that values every citizen."
And Petra is right: we have alot of cleaning-up to do. It will be so worth it!
It's sad that his grandmother wasn't here to see it, but I'll bet she was at his side in spirit.
Have a great week.
I didn't cry as much as I thought I would, but when he started talking about his family, and particularly his grandmother, I blubbed. And I can't get over how beautiful their family is.
The cheers at the club where we watched the speeches were nearly deafening. Afterward, it seemed like all of San Francisco was dancing in the streets--or at least all of Hayes Valley. There was much honking, much standing on cars, and non-stop cheering.
The election is bittersweet for me, though. It looks like proposition 8 is going to pass. After the presidential hubbub died down we went to someone's apartment to watch the local race results come in, and it was heartbreaking watching the looks on the faces of our friends J and C (who had a religious wedding in September, but who for visa reasons can't get legally married) as they watched a victory for bigotry and discrimination become more and more likely.
Anne, I hope this Presidential victory leads to the end of the insane bigotry aimed at gays regarding marriage and adoption. First, we need a sane Supreme Court, and then we need a test case. We can't have some states allowing marriage, some not. Some allowing it one day and taking it away the next. In addition to this being a violation of civil rights, it's a legal mess.
It's time to clean up America.
I have hope.
And now for the enthusiastic, tumultuous Bitty happy dance!
Barack Obama IS our next President! Woo-hoo!
Bitty, from your mouth to Maude's ears...
I was so sad this morning when reading about Prop 8, but I do have hope for the future...
Bitty, I think you're right, and I think that the trend is in that direction. I do have hope for the future. But for now, I'm just so disappointed in my state.
It was nice to be on the winning side for once.
Robin -
I was very happy to see Dole go!
Insanemommy - Do you think the Republicans will learn anything from this defeat?
Petra - And what a lot of clean up to do. I have a feeling Bush will be signing Executive Orders all the way out the door.
Bee - Did you hear McCain's speech? It was pretty good, but the crowd booed everytime he said Obama's name. Didn't hear any of that from Chicago. Imagine that, not only was Obama gracious in victory, so was his crowd.
Are your neigbors releived?
kkryno -
Yes, if she could have just made it one more day.
Anne - I wish I lived in a place where there was a spontaneous celebration. My experience has been somewhat different. I'm going to post on it soon.
Bitty - the enthusiastic, tumultuous Bitty happy dance!
I'll be waiting for that on youtube.
:)
gg - I'm hoping the State Supreme court will find prop 8 unconstitutional.
Comrade kevin - Isn't that the truth!! It took me until my 4th Presidential election before I got to celebrate.
ps: and just so that I'm not a total Debbie Downer, I wanted to say that I've been struck by people pointing out the enormity of Obama including the word "gay" in his speech last night. Maybe it's my youth, maybe it's my privilege, probably both, but I didn't realize how huge that was until someone pointed it out to me. And so despite the setbacks for equality in so many states last night, I look at that as a heartening sign of the change that's already happening.
No. I don't think the republican party will learn anything. They all believe afterall that the American people have turned against G-d by voting for Barack Obama! If anything I think they will continue to hammer home on pro-life and gay marriage and the whole christian thing. McCains party was filled with lies and more lies. We're goingto hear a lot more of that too in the coming days..... but I don't care. My man is heading to the White House!! It's a beautiful day.
p.s. tickets for the Inaugural Ball have gone on sale. gonna be pricey.....I'm hoping there's one a little more affordable for us "regular" folk....I hope. I would hate to miss his crowing moment.
I wanted to add -- my friends around the world said that America FINALLY stepped up to the plate. They do not think we are the laughing stock any longer. that's exciting.
Some conservatives are already starting the chorus of "we weren't conservative enough," arguing that the reason they lost the Latino vote was that they didn't focus enough on same-sex marriage and abortion. Heh. Good luck with that, guys.
Sticking my neck out here a bit I'll just muse on a thought:
The GOP is divided like never before. The rift is very deep and centers clearly on issues no person with a few brain cells left can underwrite.
It might just be that one will see the birth on an actual third party in the US, headed by a figure head who can really, really rile up people.
I assume that would lead to a coalition between the existing parties to stem the flow of the ultra-ultra right. That again might ultimately bring some good to the majority of the country, because two parties at loggerheads do not serve the common good.
End of musing.
Here it is a week later and I'm still smiling! I'm sending good vibes Obama's way in the hope that he can make the changes needed to get us back on the right track.
And I am extremely sad that California's Prop 8 took away the rights of so many people. Sad, sad, very sad.
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