Okay, so the question is...how many times will I cry while writing this and looking at this picture?I voted early on the Wednesday before the election. I made my way down to the Alameda County Court House in downtown Oakland and stood in the long, snaking line with the other exuberant folks and cast my ballot for Barack Obama. This was my fourth time voting in a presidential election. I also drew a big, black arrow to "NO" on prop 8, but I guess that arrow didn't reach far enough and we were defeated.
I was awoken by my friends piercing alarm at 4:15 a.m. the morning of the election. Groaning and cursing but bubbling with excitement, we struggled out of our beds and to the campaign office in a quiet outlying neighborhood of Las Vegas, Nevada. For the fifth day in a row, we walked our turf, going from apartment complex to housing project, from door to door, reminding people to vote and giving out their polling places.
There are so many stories to tell. There are a lot of night shifts in Las Vegas. Folks work all night in the service industry and come home tired and cranky in the wee hours of the morning. I awoke many of these day sleepers, rapping on their flimsy apartment doors. They would come to the door blurry-eyed, hair tousled, a frown on their lips. But the moment I said "Obama" a tiny smile would creep up in the corners of their mouths until it was apparent by the crinkle next to their eyes and the sudden flash of teeth that they just couldn't help themselves, the thought of voting for Barack Obama was just too exciting.
These were mostly people of color, Latinos and Blacks living with extended families in large apartment complexes. But they were also white, working class men that came to the door tattooed and shirtless, gold crosses hanging from their necks. One such man ran back into his house for pen and paper the moment I mentioned voting for Obama and returned gleefully, almost giddy at the prospect of voting for such a person.
This amazed me. Living in the Bay Area we some times forget that we don't have the patent on the word "liberal". We forget that there are many types of progressives living outside of our great bubble, people who might not look like us or act like us but share our values. This was a great wake-up call for me, to see these men and women of all ages, sizes, colors, and class have the same pride and sense of achievement at the prospect of voting for this candidate.
As the sun settled over the pink and purple dessert, we made our way back to my brother's apartment, put up our feet and switched on MSNBC. Yeah, I know, total liberal bias...and it was great. We listened as the results started pouring in from the east cost. We switched to CNN and then even FOX News, just to make sure that our information was "fair and balanced". I was disappointed but not surprised that the media started calling the election before all of the polls had closed. This is always a problem in national elections and it usually costs Democrats, but not this time.
We moved on to the Nevada State Democratic party at the Rio hotel in central Las Vegas. If you go back and look at the footage of election night on MSNBC you'll see us. One of many large, roaring crowds, drunk with the prospect of victory and, well the alcohol that circled the room. A large screen with MSNBC was front and center over the stage and many big screen televisions dotted the room. Just as some unknown representative of the party was telling us that the room had reached capacity and that if we needed the bathroom to please use one of the side doors, MSNBC announced that Barack Obama had gained more than enough electoral votes necessary to declare him the next president of the United States. We screamed and roared and whooped. It was a deafening sound that was repeated on all the screens around us all over the country and the world. One newscast showed the village in Kenya where Obama's father was from and we whooped and screamed and danced with the figures on the screen.
Moments later I found myself in front of the only TV in the room broadcasting FOX News. They announced Obama's victory and then went straight to a ten minute commercial for Nicole Kidman's new film, "Australia". Maybe that's where they wished they could be at the moment. Later, when they returned and after John McCain had given his concession speech, they spent the rest of the broadcast arguing over whether Sarah Palin had lost McCain the election or not. At that point we turned our attention away from them and to Barack Obama's acceptance speech.
Two women were with my brother and I as we watched that speech. Both were black and one was in her forties while the other in her late sixties. After, with tear streaked cheeks, the older of the two turned to us and said, to no one in particular, "they have to treat me differently tomorrow, they will treat me differently tomorrow, because tomorrow, when I march into work, I will have a black president and they will have to see me differently".
I have now gone back to Youtube and watched many different broadcasts of that night. I know, overkill. My favorite is John Stewart and Stephen Colbert teaming up for the Daily Show. Twelve times I have played the part in the show where John Stewart announces that Barack Obama has been elected as the next president of the United States. If one watches very carefully, you will see the moment that Stephen Colbert breaks character and his eyes mist a bit right before he goes back into his Republican, Bill O'Reilly persona...and I was crying with ya Stephen, all twelve times, I was crying with you.
