A Year Ago I was a small part of a big victory.
A Year Ago Barack Obama won the general election to be President of the United States.
has a great post today about Election Night last year. Dodai did an amazing job finding some inspirational pictures of last year's acceptance speech. The crowds. People rejoicing. Children and parents crying. As i went through the gallery I cried (I always cry)- I remember the hope, the joy and the excitement of that night.
Politics is my passion. Its like my Superbowl every four years (even though I love the SupaBowl every year). And this election was nothing like before.
I remember making the 3 debates on TV like it was the most delicious piece of TV ever. I mean I was nervous for Obama who doesn't seem like an overly aggressive person (i.e a dick) when it comes to getting his point across. I remember one of my Republican friend was just enjoying McCain butting in and interrupting him and saying that was a real leader. Um. WHA?? But in the end, after all the mistakes McCain made (focusing on Joe The Plumber, THAT ONE, Sarah Palin) I knew Obama was doing very well.
That being said, I lost friend due to my opinion and my political affiliation. A couple of people who i genuinely thought were good friends, people I had known for over 11 years, cut me out of their life. Is it sad? Yes. I know a lot of my friends have different political opinions than me but I never really thought it would get in the way of a friendship. Call me naive. But these two in particular could not even process that a man with a different name wasn't going to kill us all. Oh BROTHER. Get over it people- you listen to Rush and Ann Coulter and that douche Glenn Beck and you get things in your head that aren't true. Some of the things they would say blew my mind. And its easy to get swept up into this whole thing. Most who read my FB in this period I came down pretty hard on people who talked trash and did not have their stories straight. Why? Because other pick up on information and to me, as an Obama supporter, it's my right to let people know truths rather than speculation.
Any who, I remember I woke up at 5:30 that morning on Election Day to vote. When i got there I was 20th or so in line. I stayed quiet- the suburban area I lived in was extremely conservative. I drank my coffee and texted people. After an hour I had my voters sticker! I had voted! Now I waited.
That night i was too much in a flurry to cook so we ordered chinese food. We watched all the different news coverage. At first I was pretty nervous. McCain and his crazy VP was pulling forward. My heart sank. But I tried to stay positive.
We piled into our bed to watch The Daily Show. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert! Love, love, love them. Jameson stayed up for some reason. I dont remember why. But we were there, watching tv and hoping and praying there would be good news at the end of the night. Then Jon Stewart called it. We couldnt believe it. My eyes welled up with tears.
We had won. I was apart of something that really changed people's life. I can't believe much I believed, how hard I hoped and happy I was. People all around the world shared the same passion I did and it paid off.
I called my mom who had recently become a American Citizen. She had cast her first vote ever for Obama. We cried and laughed. My dad would have been so proud.
I know everyone is a critic. A lot of people think he hasn't been a good President. Some people think he hasn't done anything in his presidency. In the less than 10 months he has been in office I think he has done a lot of things. The Wall Street Journal accounts for several accomplishments in this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125712507804421903.html?mod=rss_Politics_And_Policy
What i want to say to people still on the fence of him: Give him time. He's been in office less than 10 months. I know he will accomplish many more things in his first term. And i wish people would just give him that chance.
So Congrats, Mr. President. And thank you.
