Election Reflection

Elections are different here on the left coast!

I watched the returns with a small group of co-workers, one Canadian, and one Jack Russell terrier. The party host checked out a projector from the library so we could watch on a big screen. We were just barely settled in with our munchies when Obama was declared president-elect at 8:01 Pacific Time. Our polls closed and *poof*! We could hardly believe it. I was pessimistically expecting a repeat of Election Night 2000. I spent that night at the home of Joanna, Liz, and Starfish, all of us thinking that if we just stayed up 15 more minutes, surely they'd call it. Surely.

Nobody said a word or moved a muscle during the victory speech. Not even the terrier. I thought it was very telling that the concession speech happened in an exclusive hotel and the victory speech happened at an enormous public park with people of all colors, ages, races, shapes, and sizes in attendance.

I forget which network we were watching, but the 50-something white male news anchor... Charlie Gibson, maybe? Anyway, he got all choked up over a picture of the presidents. It was the type of picture that hangs on the walls of social studies classrooms all across the United States. Generations of school kids had pictures like that staring down at them every day. Even if you never consciously thought "I'd like to be president someday" I really believe pictures like this have done a number on your psyche. What if you can't see yourself in the picture? What if you're not white? Or male? Or (lately) rich? I got a little choked up, too. A few days later, a local pastor posted this picture on his blog. Powerful stuff.

The original source of this image is http://www.patrickmoberg.com/