The White House, on election night... as caught on my cell phone.Wow.
After two years, it's over. And we have a new President-Elect - the man who will in a few short months become America's first black president.
Not only are the results surreal, but so is the fact that the election is over. I keep bouncing over to polling sites and then remembering that there's nothing to check. I look at the electoral map, with states shaded in red or blue, and realize that that's the final tally (minus Missouri, for now).
But the great thing about elections is that they always come around again, usually before you know it. We still have the Georgia senate run-off election in December, and then the 2009 governor's races will be starting, and then it'll be midterms, and then it'll be 2012, and I will hopefully be standing behind a successful President Obama. See how it is to jump light-years ahead of ourselves?
My posts here have been light the past few days as I've been doing a lot of political stories over at The New Gay. My post from today is a personal and political reflection of where I was on election night, where gay rights stand in light of Prop 8 passing in California, and some general thoughts.
Part of that story includes my wild and crazy Tuesday night. I watched the results come in at a friend's house, and when the race was called, I led a mob of Georgetown students running through the sidewalks and sometimes streets straight to the White House. There was a mosh pit, and secret service agents I tried (often successfully) to make smile by yelling "OBAMA!!!", there were people I haven't seen since freshman year who I ran up and hugged, there was cheering, there was celebration. I lost my voice. I called everyone I could think in my current state to call. I felt really and truly proud to be an American, something I've never felt before.
It's been a wild ride, and I'm thankful for the people who have been a part of my political journey. From New Hampshire last fall, volunteering for Richardson; to the deserts of Egypt, trying to find a net cafe to see who won the primaries; from staying up until the morning call to prayer in Turkey to watch results come in during the great Clinton-v-Obama battle; to working for our president elect this summer in the great state of Oregon. Thanks to everyone who joined with me in conversation, in taking action, and in being a part of this incredible movement.
