Yes We Did!

On a Saturday afternoon in early September, N and I were watching Obama’s DNC speech on YouTube (yes, we were a bit behind schedule, but cut us some slack—we were living in France at the time). It was the same afternoon N was embarking on a crazy, tri-continental business trip that would also take him to SF, where he would have his final interview for the job that ultimately lured us back to the States. In the middle of Barack’s address, I said, “Imagine if this opportunity works out for you and we make it back to San Francisco in time for the election…and he wins.” We both agreed it would be a beautiful thing to share in the celebrations, as we spent the past two election port-mortems trudging through a very funereal SF.

I’d been such a nervous wreck in all the months, weeks, days leading up to November 4. Yet strangely when I woke up yesterday, I just felt in my gut that Obama was going to win. I somehow avoided checking the news all day (a defense-mechanism at work to keep me calm, no doubt), until my mom called at 5pm to update me on what had already transpired: CT, NJ, ME, VT, DC, many of the usual Northeast suspects had gone blue. Then I got on the Internet and saw that Obama had won PA. Holy East Coast, it was happening! Mom and I screamed excitedly, my heart started racing, and it never stopped for the rest of the evening. Thank goodness my friend was hosting an election watch party, as the group-therapy atmosphere / added stimulation prevented me from pacing in circles around our small temporary apartment.

When the networks and online pubs started to call it, I was suspicious. Huffington Post had “President-Elect Obama” on their home page as early as 7pm PST. MSNBC had been touting 200+ electoral votes for over an hour and it just seemed too early. West Coast polls had barely closed. The NYT had been conservative in its estimates all night; they weren’t calling it yet, and so I couldn’t believe. But then I had a strange thought—what was Fox News saying? I proceeded to their site, saw “President Obama” splashed across the home page, and that’s when I gave into the wave of elation.

WOW, AMERICA!!!!

McCain gave the most inspired speech of his campaign. Barack’s—and the ten-ton reality of what had just transpired—made me cry. Among many others, I loved his comment that the change we seek doesn’t lie in his getting elected; rather, we now have the chance to make that change happen. Indeed. The road ahead will be long and difficult, but we’re more united than ever to make good on the hope and promise that brought us to this historic moment. And Barack is making good on one promise right away—the Obama girls are getting a puppy, and thus all is right in the world.

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of “Yes we can…yes we did!” reverberating from coast to coast, from continent to continent as the world rejoices with us. It would have been fascinating to view this event through the eyes of the French, but I’m thrilled to be in the U.S. to experience this firsthand. And while I miss Paris, I’m glad I don’t have to high-tail it back there to hide out for four more years.

And one last thing—I love Tina Fey and I am happy that she has her “little comedy show” to attend to, because her calendar officially got lighter as of about 8:20pm PST last night.