The turning point came when Pennsylvania was declared an Obama win. At that point, we were all waiting for the inevitable McCain concession speech.
The states kept coming in. CNN’s John King did a “what-if” scenario that clearly showed McCain could not do it. (He also humored many by doing a “what-if” scenario to see if Democrats could get 60 seats in the Senate.)
The crowd was enthralled and yet at many times they were tired and just ready for the night to end. Anxiety was abundant at times.
When NBC predicted Obama’s win and then CNN followed, well, you can bet people were floored. The crowd let off a roar of cheering that rumbled throughout the masses gathered at Grant Park.
“Yes we did. Yes we did.”
So far, the crowd had not shown that they were aware of the issues that had brought us all together to a point where we wanted to see Obama succeed in winning the presidency. But, one lady said it best, “Yes we did. But we’ve got a lot of work to do now too.”
In the midst of all the cheering and happiness, this was a breath of fresh air for a world that was becoming more and more like a fantasy as the night wore on.
To see all the people from all over the world gathered to watch the election results meant that this was something more than just another American election. This was possibly one last chance for America to redeem itself before the world became aggressive and rejecting of a nation constantly claiming to be “the greatest nation on Earth.”
McCain’s concession speech was a shining moment of the night for me. I do not know why but as I watched him on the screen, I was feeling an emotional tug inside. There was something genuine about what McCain was saying to the people in front of him that was touching and profound.
Why a warmongering war hero who wanted to lead the empire was making me emotional, I don’t know. But, I felt like McCain was admitting a lot about the past few months that he had tried to ignore so that he could maybe possibly win.
One would think an Obama victory speech would have immediately followed, but perhaps, we had to give the pundits time to slice and dice the McCain concession speech. So, Obama had a religious figurehead come out to lead us in prayer and then he had a veteran come out to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
It’s funny how hope and change still had to answer to those who fear anti-Americanism even after winning, and it’s funny how Obama claimed throughout the election that he did not have to take a God or patriotism test yet he often did.
Obama did it at the Democratic National Convention to a crowd roaring loudly as they waved American flags rapidly in the air. And he did it again on Election Night to a crowd roaring loudly as they waved flags rapidly in the air.
Such situations throughout his campaign that had hints of nationalism and theocracy mixed with populism were and should be worrisome because of the fact that Obama’s power to unite the people could be directed and aimed towards whatever objective or goal the powers that be desire.
For the most part though, it appeared that supporters had no idea they were creating an atmosphere that any good imperialist would love to walk in.
Obama’s victory speech wasn’t so much an eloquent speech as it was a chance for the crowd to release and realize a reality. The reality was that a dark era was over and if what CNN pundits said were right, the Bush years had been “repudiated.”
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