We've all got our stories. They're all similar, with various minor differences in the accounting of our days. They all involve tears of joy, numerous hugs, a massive celebration, and a long night of fun.
My day was like all of yours, but here's the story of my day.
The election night celebration began at 8pm at the party headquarters of John Bocierri (who is now our new Congressman, the first Democrat to serve OH-16 in 60 years). This is the seat that I ran for unsuccessfully in 2004.
In my hand all night was a bottle of champagne I had purchased in November of 2004, hoping to uncork it on election night that year. I wasn't able to open it then, and I have had it with me for four long years. It was ready to be opened.
The party buzzed during the early part of the night as results came in. The early states fell like we thought they would, and whenever we got small results from Ohio, we grew louder. A Dutch TV station and several newspaper photographers were on hand to record our event. There were a LOT of news photographers there...we later learned that there were so many because the GOP didn't throw a party this year ("nobody wants to go to a funeral", someone said).
When NH went our way, we felt good. When Indiana was "too close to call", we got confident. When PA went our way, we knew it was a matter of time.
MSNBC called Ohio first, and some of us knew that, but the projection TV was on CNN and the news hadn't spread yet. Then it happened.
Wolf Blitzer announced a huge Obama victory, and the screen flashed "BREAKING NEWS". The room murmured.
The beautiful shape of the state of Ohio appeared on the screen next to Blitzer and it was the color of blue.
"CNN projects that Senator Barack Obama has won the state of Ohio."
We never heard a word of Blitzer's projection. We were WAY too loud to hear it. The hugs and the tears were all over the ballroom. I embraced Monicque Connor, head of the Canton NAACP for well over a minute, tears streaming down our cheeks. Cameras flashed all over the room.
And as I pulled back from the hugs, I raised the bottle over my head and began to uncork it. Four years of sitting on a shelf, and it was about damn time to pop this baby. But the cork didn't want to pop. It broke. I was quickly handed a set of car keys and began digging at the side of the cork in the bottleneck (nobody said any of this would be easy).
30 seconds later, the cork shot out of the neck and the champagne stream began. I took the first taste. It didn't age well, but it was the best taste I have had in a long time. The bottle passed around, and when I got it back later, it still had a third of the bottle left. I savored the rest.
By 1050pm, they still hadn't called the race, but we all saw the writing on the wall. As soon as the west coast polls closed, we knew it was over. We watched that clock, knowing the precise second that history would be made.
When the CNN clock got down to 20 seconds, my best friend began the countdown loudly. When she got to 10, the crowd was joining her in full-throated joy. As we reached zero, the CNN screen gave us our prize. Barack Obama was declared our new President.
You know the rest. It was just like your night. We cheered, we cried, we celebrated.
Here's the rest of the key points from my day;
- We had to wait until 1230 before Stark County got their act together and released results, allowing us to celebrate with our new Congressman, John Bocierri.
- I drove an 87-year old African-American woman to the polls at Noon. She couldnt see well enough to read the voting machine screen, so I asked her which button I should push for President. Her response...."I want to vote for the black man". Wow.
- As the day wore on, GOP poll-watchers grew angry. They got testy, they consistently accused poll-watchers of trickery when none existed, and did everything they could to assert themselves in situations they didn't have authority over. One tried to have me removed from the grounds because I was an Obama supporter, despite the fact that I wore no Obama buttons, pins, etc. He just knew who I was and wanted me removed. He was ignored. Another watcher began yelling at voters outside the doors. It was delicious to watch the implosion.
- A car full of people who had helped my campaign in 2004 from "Run Against Bush" were in town again last night, having made another trip from New York City. I'm in awe of people who can dedicate themselves and travel hundreds of miles to volunteer in key states. Yes, Nancy, I'll come visit you in NYC. And if I knew how to spell your husband's name, I'd thank him too right now.
- And for the most wonderful moment of the day, an elderly black lady said to me outside Obama HQ;
"Won't it be ironic when the Republicans are the minority party and the minority candidate is the President?"
I can't top that thought. Can you?