A night to remember

With all the misdirection and off-topic speculation I've been hearing during the runup to the historic event that is now only 12 days away (the end of the W Era and the beginning of the Age of O), I thought I'd just post a reminder of how completely damn amazing all this is.

The following is a verbatim transcription of my journal from those fantastic days in early November (only 10 weeks ago, but already seems like a lifetime):

Monday, November 3, 2008

Dark, cold, rainy night. Even though the extra hour gives us a merciful dose of light in the morning, an extra measure of sleep, all of which is absolutely necessary and more than welcome, it also throws us squarely into the dead of winter. Just last week, the sun came beaming brightly into our office window at 5:00, blinding us. Now, at 5:00 it's completely dark. You emerge from work onto a wet, drizzly street, everyone bundled up, blinded by headlights reflected on the wet pavement. Just like THAT you've arrived. Winter.

The bus is hotter, steamier, smellier than usual -- everyone is dressed warmly, heaters are on, driving up the temperature and humidity and pungence. You don't gaze out the window -- what's there to see in the dark? Your eyes defocus and you stare blankly ahead. The passing scenery doesn't mark your progress -- you have to strain somewhat to keep up with how far you've come.

So, the election: My blood is up, my heart is in my throat, my stomach in knots. I can't even begin to imagine that this might actually happen. My heart has been so thoroughly broken by this nation, by the bigoted and the ignorant and the uneducated and the mean-spirited and the simply evil. Can it be that we will really elect a bona fide symbol of hope, of change, of progress and tolerance and compromise and thoughtfulness and nuance and high ideals?

It seems impossible. It seems like too much to hope for. But I'm suppressing the hope with everything I have. I can't let it out until the thing is done. I can't go through another 2004. I can't go through another round of the goddamned GOP assholes smugly strutting over their victory. They need to be soundly walloped, shunned, sent to the corner to sit quietly for the next four years to think about what they've done.

The main thing, though, is that we have the chance to put a truly good and great man, possibly a historic man, into the highest office on Earth. And God help us if we fail to do it. God help us if we can't summon up that much optimism, that much courage, that much hope.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

9 AM

Maus & I rose early to get Wyatt to daycare so we could vote, this time in the basement of the church up on 65th. Last time, too -- from here on out, all voting in Washington will be mail-in. Sad. I love going to the polls. It's very real, very concrete, immediate, interactive, gratifying. Civic. Not an era, not a practice that I want to see vanish. Anyway, here we go... the game's afoot.

4 PM

Trying to keep my mind off it, but I can't. The numbers are starting to come in (McCain wins Kentucky; Obama wins Vermont). So many ways this could go bad. So many ways it could go right. My stomach is in knots. I feel like I'm going to throw up. Believe. Believe. Believe.

6 PM

Just picked up Wyatt -- very cold and very wet out there. Almost no visibility. And snow/ice on the deck when we got home. So: Last we heard, they called Pennsylvania and most of New England for Obama -- the latter not a surprise, but Pennsylvania was a worry. Liddy Dole has been unseated in North Carolina; John Sununu also has been deposed. So far the Dems have gained 3 seats in the Senate. Long night ahead, but so far it looks promising.

6:30 PM

Oh my God. They just projected Ohio for Obama. That puts him way up (if it's so). New Mexico, also Obama. Maybe my math is off, but if he gets the whole West Coast, he takes it all. My God My God My God. Please let it be so.

8 PM

West Coast polls have closed. McCain is closing the gap: 207 to 142. West Coast, Viriginia, North Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Indiana, Colorado still in play.

8:05 PM

OH. MY. GOD.

They just called it. Barack Obama is president. Holy shit.

8:35 PM

McCain just gave his concession speech. Very gracious, very magnanimous and genuine -- unlike his crowd of supporters, who booed every mention of Obama.

I remember when I first heard the name Obama. I think it was a blog post relating the story of Bush seeing a "Got Obama?" button on a woman, and being taken aback (thinking it said "Osama"). He asked her about it. "You haven't heard of Obama?" she asked him. He said no. "You will," she said.

10:30 PM

The parties continue. Obama's speech was incredible. People are spilling into the streets of Seattle in celebration. I've heard from a lot of people who called just to share the joy. The celebrations will go on all night. Damn it feels good. And now it seems that Gregoire has beaten Rossi again for Governor. It's a landslide, a near-complete sweep. And I'm so glad I was here to see it. And equally glad that Wyatt will grow up in a country without Bush in the White House. A good, a great day to have voted.

11 PM

The parties in the streets are ballooning -- up on Broadway and down by Pike Place. Huge crowds pouring out into the street in joy and celebration. What a beautiful sight (especially if one remembers the 1999 WTO demonstrations).

CNN is replaying Obama's speech. What a man. And Joe Biden --this guy I love. Oh, the times ahead.

Oh yeah I forgot (as the West Coast put him over the top): Obama won Virginia (!), Colorado, and Florida (!!!). FLORIDA. Without Florida in 2000, we wouldn't have had to suffer through the last 8 years. And now they've come around. The electoral map looks really good right now.

Wow, what a speech.

midnight

They're dancing in the streets in San Francisco, in Times Square, outside the White House, and here. What a thing to see.

November 5, 2008

Euphoria. It still hasn't completely sunk in, but it is like coming out of a bad dream. An 8-year-long bad dream. And now, still just trying to get my bearings, trying to fathom the fact that it's over.

President Barack Obama. Say it again. Just say it and listen to the words and consider what they mean.

Thank you. Whoever you are, wherever you are, if you exist... Thank you.