Election Party

Tonight, as all should know was the quadrennial election to determine the chief executor of the American government, to serve for the following four years. Or more simply, the 2008 presidential election.
This was my first presidential election as a qualified voter and I was thrilled to play a role in both the primary and national election process. Although, because of a strange situation with the Democratic National Convention my primary vote counted for naught, it made the National election no less sweet.

On the night of the election proper a group of American, and some interested/concerned Europeans, congregated to watch the events live. As we are seven hours behind, thanks Day Lights Savings Time, the first polls were set to close at 2:30 CAT I decided that I would take a nap and get up at 3am.
The watching was exciting especially as lots of people were very excited and all were of like mind. An interesting sidenote is that of the 22 or so American students in our exchange program, all but one supported Obama, the outlier was a Ralph Nader supporter. Each set of closing states brought excitement as students from all parts of the U.S. were in attendance including, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, New York, Washington, Oregon, Texas, and maybe some other places. As each person’s state closed and a winner was projected we made a game of claiming sole responsibility for the success of Obama in our state. As the night progressed it became increasingly clear that Obama’s victory was imminent. At precisely 5am when California, Washington, Idaho, Hawaii, and Oregon closed CNN declared that Obama was projected to be the next president of the United States of America. The room went insane. Many students began jumping around screaming at the top of their lungs and throwing chairs to the floor. I watched in a state of paralyzed glee.

(This picture fails to capture the real excitement, but its the best I've got.)

McCain’s speech was conciliatory and classy. I appreciated the words he spoke but was disappointed with both my friends, and McCain’s supporters who demonstrated their continued distaste for the opponent. Obama’s speech, to me, was thoroughly inspiring especially his quote: “Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.”
I find myself thoroughly proud of what our Nation has wrought, thoroughly proud of my peers for fully participating and influencing our future (Voters in the 18 to 24 age group broke 68 percent for Obama to 30 percent for John McCain, according to the exit polling. Those in the 25 to 29 age bracket went 69 percent to 29 percent in Obama's favor), and truly hopeful that our tomorrows will continue to be ever brighter than our yesterdays.
Love to all,
Tommy