Wednesday, November 5, 2008

the next morning

I don't care how one or another person voted.... I feel that everyone should be excited to take part in such amazing history.

Sitting alone on the couch late last night, I was knitting away at some fingerless gloves, when I heard, "There will be children in the white house...." and I looked up and my eyes bugged out. "Wow," I quietly whispered.

I have a lot of respect for both candidates, and my favor swung back and forth between them a LOT. And my respect only grew last night for both of them.

McCain's concession speech was beautiful, honorable, and full of dignity. I've rarely heard a more beautiful concession speech, and he was so respectful. As I listened, I thought, "He's a good man. He's a really, really good man."

Seeing the excitement on people's faces for Obama's win was also really endearing. For me, all political feelings were set aside, and I just watched the crowds. I saw the smiles, the jumping, the flag waving, and the tears. And you know what? I cried too. There's things I disagree with Obama on, but I was proud of my country. Like McCain said, I can't imagine how all those who have felt marginalized by society must have felt for a black man to become president.

What was really cool is that this is NOT a black victory. It was not just minorities crying and cheering last night. It was all races, all socio-economic classes, both genders, and multiple religions. This is an American victory and American history. Seeing everyone cheering together made a feel a little like we're a lot more unified. I'd been so tired of all the race remarks and all the accusations the last few months, and it did my heart good to see that it wasn't entirely true. There IS unity in this country.

I've been wary and cautious of Obama at times, but I sat there last night and thought, "I can't wait to tell my kids about tonight." I have high hopes for Obama. Josh mentioned that seeing the crowd last night was amazing, because he hadn't seen hope and joy in Americans like that in years. And it's true. So, I hope he doesn't let these people down. I hope Obama does great things and is a great president. There's some policies I'm not looking forward to, but others I am very interested in.

Democrat or Republican, I feel this is a very exciting time in America. I'm praying that it stays this way.

I feel like it's a good day.


Song for the moment: "Last night I had the strangest dream" by Simon & Garfunkel

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