Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so our children can fly.
what a year it was politically. exhilarating. ever since barack obama spoke at john kerry's democratic national convention in 2004, i was hooked. that one man, the words he spoke, made such a difference in my life. his words rang true to many americans, his ability to speak the bitter truth yet be so genuine, to speak to the common man - the ignored man. i distinctly remember driving to LA in 2006 just to hear him speak. and when a volunteer handed me that "OBAMA '08" poster, well, needless to say i was obsessed. i was ready to barack the vote, i was ready to make america obama-nation.
that poster still hangs on my wall - his words still bring tears to my eyes. for someone that genuinely wants to improve the status of our country, our people, and the world without many personal agendas - it's nearly unbelievable to have such a things in politics. it really is. of course it's also true that he's not the ordinary WASP politician - no, in fact, he's a minority. but i'm sure that has little to do with his beliefs and values. no one has been celebrated around the world as much as obama - and rightfully so. as the year of his election drew closer, i did my part to ensure that obama was elected to the office of the president. i was ready to barack and roll. i joined the democratic headquarters located across campus at UTC, i got free obama t-shirts, pins, stickers. i did my best to persuade people to vote for obama.
i remember being so excited about this election that i wore my blue dress on nov 4, representing all that is true in our democratic nation - i know it's absolutely nerdy beyond belief, but i was excited. i could barely pay attention in class, waiting for the numbers to roll in, waiting for the anchors and political analysts to analyze the hell out of the mccain/obama situation, to see how the swing states ended up - to see america would make the left decision (haha).
after a full day of class, and getting yelled at in yoga for checking my phone for text updates on the election, i ran to the pub to meet shea and jon to watch the election. it was amazing. young democrats had taken over the pub. pitchers of beer were everywhere. ecstatic professors, students, bartenders all wore obama paraphernalia. the numbers were in! 7pm our time - 10 pm eastern time. obama had won the presidency!!! 52.9% of the popular vote over McCain's 45.7%, and 365 electoral votes to 173...he had become the first african-american to win the presidency. yaaaay :)
i was bawling when he gave his victory speech. i turned to shea. we hugged. i turned to jon. we hugged. people were celebrating around the world. for hope. for change. for obama. i texted mel, roxy, and other friends. we celebrated. i texted jamie - i got a "america's going to hell" text. ahhh the bitter republicans. life was perfect again.
i hadn't said the pledge of allegiance since dubya was elected the 2nd time around. i know, i'm a horrible american. but i still truly maintain that bush did absolutely nothing for america. i still maintain that everyone that voted for him and his name recognition were idiots - so many people have died in vain because of his ignorance, his stupidity. but you know what? he was the president after all. i'm not going to be disrespectful. i may disagree but i still believe that though obama is somewhat unfortunate to deal with all that his predecessor has left behind - wars, debt, etc - that he will prevail due to the honesty and truth, and hope and change that he knows he can bring. he has a vision.
what's even more exhilarating is that when january 20th rolled around ... inauguration day ... the excitement was everywhere. i did my very best not to ditch class. in the 4 years of college, i had not ditched class - even once. (until 5.21.09, but that's a diff story) - i sat, wishing i could be in dc, in the freezing cold, on the green in the capitol mall, watching obama speak, watching obama speak. watching bush leave. watching the pastor from irvine be the one to swear obama in.
http://www.inauguration.dc.gov/index.asp i didn't ditch class that day. i woke up early to watch him speak, then sprinted to class 5 minutes before it started. but i was ecstatic. just the fact that someone with common sense, with sound values that has been elected means a lot - he's already done so much! it's going to be an amazing four years. it's still a little weird to hear "president obama" ... but i like the sound of it. and i can't wait for the next four years.
i've included some links below to remember this historic event.
http://www.russellheimlich.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/election-night-homepage-collage-small.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ElectoralCollege2008.svg
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/04/obama-victory-speech_n_141194.html
http://hiphappy.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/obama-blue-poster.jpg
http://s3.amazonaws.com/giles/barack_obama_can_get_out_the_vote.jpg
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/Obama%20on%20Time%20Nov.%2029,%202007-thumb.jpg
http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/obama1_0.jpg
http://images.doba.com/products/536/411338.jpg
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