Sunday, November 09, 2008

Mission Accomplished

I think I'll remember turning forty long after I'm old enough to have forgotten almost everything else. The events of the last few weeks will always be linked in my mind, but the one this country and - the world will remember has nothing to do with home runs and parades.

Abby called me Monday night to ask if I would come over to watch the election returns with her. Chip was an official poll watcher on Tuesday and she wasn't sure when he would be coming home. I thought that sounded like fun, first because I could spend some time with my nieces before they went to bed and second, Abby was already extremely confident that Obama would win. I guess she has spent too much time away from Philadelphia to know she shouldn't jinx it by being too optimistic. Of course she spent the 2004 election in Ohio, so she should know not to count her chickens. Here is a hazy timeline of how our night went.

7:00 a.m. Abby wakes up, calls the election for Obama and goes out to canvass her neighborhood.

6:30 p.m. -ish I go to Whole Foods on the way to Abby's to get some deserts and some sparkling cider as a champagne substitute. The Whole foods was packed with eastern liberal Democrats pretending to buy healthy food, but probably just buying cake like I did.

6:45 p.m. - I arrive at Abby's. One year-old niece Hannah is smiling a lot as usual and crawling around like a champ. Four year old Rebecca is practicing writing her letters, hoping she has formed some words. She can definitely write her name and her handwriting is probably already better than mine.

7:00 p.m. ish - Rebecca and I make popcorn in the air popper. We all make sure she doesn't touch anything too hot. Abby goes to take Hannah up to bed. Rebecca and I watch a cartoon about a family of skunks who really seem to like classical music but don't have long tails or French accents. Rebecca likes the popcorn- even with out any butter.

7:15 - Rebecca really likes popcorn. The young girl skunk is learning life lessons.

7:20 - I ask Rebecca if we could save some popcorn for Mommy and Uncle Nernie to eat later. She wants to know what else there is to eat- "Mommy always gives me options" she says. We settle on mini carrots.

7:30 p.m. - Abby comes down stairs, makes sure there have been no major injuries and we switch the TV to the returns. I object to watching MSNBC because I don't like their anchor. I actually went to college with him and I resent the fact that he is so successfull - nothing against his anchor skills which seem just fine.

7:45 ish - I ask Abby if they have a wireless internet connection in their apartment so I could go on line and get even more information than was flowing on the bottom of the TV screen. She looked at me as if I asked if they had indoor plumbing. She goes to get Rebecca ready for bed.

8:00 pm - One of the networks calls Pennsylvania for Obama. I don't remember which one, and I'm sure that would upset them. I am still worried and I still can't believe it yet. I start to look around the web for exit polls and other sites that have called the state. How are they calling everything with Zero percent of the vote in? Abby is not surprised- she calls the race for Obama. I remind her that Kerry looked like a winner too.

8:15 pm - It becomes obvious that everyone is calling Pennsylvania. All I have been hearing over the past month is how important PA is for McCain and how he must win it to survive. None of the commentators brings this up. We now have two laptops going- Abby is filling out her own electoral map- giving Obama just about every battleground state. I find PA exit polls on CNN.com that show that Obama even got some votes in the "Real America" part of the state (formerly called "Alabama")

8:30 - Chip comes in from his day of poll watching. He has actual official credentials. He has to report some vote totals to the campaign. We now have three laptops going. I think they must have a laptop tree out back. Chip is feeling sick and exhausted, so he takes some Nyquil and collapses on the living room floor. I tell Abby that if it gets closer later she shouldn't tell him- it might be bad for his health.

9:00 p.m. (I think) - Big states like Ohio and Florida are also called for Obama. Abby calls the race again. She's doing the electoral math and a McCain win looks impossible. I remind her that John Kerry had the thing won in 2004 too. Ohio is a big one because it is Chips' home state and they lived there together for several years. Abby even set up a group or a foundation or a coalition there to do something after the '04 race. If I tried to explain it I'd get it wrong.

9:15 p.m. - I pose one of those hypothetical situations that sports fans talk about all the time- What about McCain of 2000 vs. Obama of 2008? Abby doesn't seem to want to play. I think it would have been much closer myself.

Some time after 10:00 p.m. - We are confident enough to change the channel to Comedy Central where Stewart and Colbert are holding court. We figure it should be over at 11:00 p.m. when the California polls close. They are being so careful this year. We find out later that even McCain thought it was over about a week ago. Chip goes up to bed.

11:00 pm - Things are moving quickly now: the networks call California as expected and call the race for Obama. I still have trouble believing it- remember I was actually at the World Series clincher and it still took a while to sink in for me. We don't cheer too loud - there are children sleeping. When McCain gives his very gracious concession speech I start to feel OK about things.

Laterish- Abby and I discuss the enormity of the event. Even though it's hard to put it into perspective. I think about my nieces and the fact that Barack Obama will be the first President they remember. Having an African-American President will be the norm for them. Their background is much like his: an African-American father and a white mother. They will grow up knowing, not just hoping, that for them anything is possible.

The one enormous reason Obama's victory was possible was the extreme unpopularity of George W. Bush. And the economy. But mostly Bush. Many times in the last eight years we were all left speechless by the constant stream of one-quarter truths and astounding policies coming out of the White House. None of it made any sense at all to many of us- especially the Iraq war which has cost too many lives on both sides.

First it was sold as part of the war on terror and a quest to stop Saddam from using his weapons of mass destruction. When that didn't pan out it became a fight to turn the Middle East towards Democracy. Certainly everyone would see all that stability they were having in Iraq and want it themselves. Many Americans recognized that our standing in the world was crashing and action was necessary. Millions of new voters have been registered. Many people volunteered and gave money. Debates and infomercials are getting great TV ratings. Election turnout was historically high. Yes, George Bush has certainly inspired plenty of people these last few years, but in the end it turns out the only democracy he has strengthened is our own.

11:30 or so: I hug my sister and light up a cigar as I walk home to watch President-Elect Barack Obama give his victory speech.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"...in the end it turns out the only democracy he has strengthened is our own."

Nicely put.

12:51 PM  

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