Yes We Did-- and why.

[Saydrah]

Yes we did. We elected an intellectual, an author, an orator, a Constitutional scholar, a professor, a family man, a world citizen, and a black man as President of the United States, in a landslide victory the likes of which may not be seen again in our lifetimes.

Why? How?

The most organized campaign machine that's ever existed. Every cog was oiled. Everything worked smoothly. Every volunteer was happy, empowered, and excited.

Yesterday I served as a polling place lead for the Obama campaign, and every time I needed something, it was done in five minutes. Ride to the polls for a woman who ended up at the wrong precinct with no car and no time to walk or wait for the bus? Done. Ride to another precinct for a woman using a wheelchair? Done. Ride home for an elderly woman whose friend for some reason dropped her off but didn't wait for her to vote? Done. Coffee? Done. Sandwich? Done. Five minutes.

And my runners who did all that.... were BORED! Because there were so many volunteers available that I had runners assigned to ME ALONE. So they managed to canvass a couple hundred voters in between meeting my precinct's needs.

There was an Election Protection attorney trained in voter protection at the polling place I supervised. When a problem arose after a Republican operative challenged my distance from the polling place door (partisan materials not permitted within 100'), the attorney called a special number and within 15 minutes a State Senator and another attorney had arrived to mediate the dispute and communicate with election officials and, if necessary, law enforcement.

There were hundreds of canvassers beating the streets to get every last mail-in ballot dropped off, every last voter to the polls, every last undecided convinced.

And they were happy to do it. Not worn out and downtrodden like I've seen in previous elections. I waved signs at cars outdoors in the wind for over 13 hours, got yelled at by angry Republicans, helped voters with whatever they needed, handed out stickers, without a break, and I was thrilled. You never saw such a big shit-eating grin as you would have seen if you saw me yesterday. I couldn't have been happier to stand on a street corner from 6 AM to 7:30 PM if I was told I'd win the lottery, guaranteed, after I did it.

Energy. Organization. Empowerment. Every volunteer felt they owned a piece of the campaign. When my precinct and my country turned blue, there were hugs all around and I know every one of us thought, "I did that! That was my hard work!"

Yes. WE. Did.

[AdminAssistant]

*HUG*

Yes, we did!

[DGoddess]

"Yes, we did" . . . in a big way, I might add.

I still don't know what the result is in my state (North Carolina) - the votes are still being tallied even though the polls closed at 7:30 EST last night.

I went and did my duty as a citizen when I left work yesterday and cast my ballot. And, yes, I did vote for Barack Obama.

Why? I felt he was simply the right person for the job.

Our economy is a shambles, the working people are getting the shaft not only through taxes, but numerous job losses/the mortgage crisis/rising healthcare costs - et al.

What I heard during the debates from Senator (now President-Elect) Obama were ideas that could help our country get back on track. What I heard from Senator McCain was a bunch of rhetoric about wanting to increase defense spending and taking better care of our veterans.

For me, it was a simple choice: go for the status quo (who doesn't recognize me as a taxpayer as I'm single with no dependents) or vote for change (which will NOT come overnight as some people may be thinking.)

I voted for change. I voted to give a person the opportunity to lead us up the mountain and help us build our country back up to what it once was - and make it even better than it had been before.

Our president-elect is well spoken, well educated yet he can relate to people regardless of who we are/where we live/how much education we have/what color our skin is. None of that matters in his eyes.

What matters is that we are the people. He sees us as people, so therefore I see him as a person. One who can help us unite as one voice - one country - and work toward restoring our country to become (again) a place where one can be proud to live and work in. A country in which parents can feel good about raising their children in. A country where any child - regardless of their background - can dream and, with hard work and as much help as can be mustered - can do and be anything they want to be and not know any limitations. We can once again - given time, patience and hard work - can once again become a country which garners respect from the rest of the world.

We decided it was time to grow up and face reality and take the chance. We have spoken in once voice . . . we have written a new chapter in the history of not only our country, but also the world. We've kicked down yet another barrier and are now showing the next generation coming up that . . . Yes, we can.

And, yes we did.

[Saydrah]

Hugs all around.

The coming together of our country to elect a transformational leader really sunk in for me when a middle-aged man with a remarkable resemblance to Stuntman Mike (from the movie Death Proof) told me why he was voting Obama:

"I'm a former football coach. And if there's one thing a coach knows, it's that when you have four lousy seasons, you don't expect to keep your job for another four. We gave Bush eight seasons and he blew them all, and now he's finally going away. When your coach has eight lousy seasons and then retires, what's the smart thing to do? Hire his offensive coordinator as head coach? Or hire someone totally different who wasn't right by his side patting him on the back when he lost all those games those eight seasons?"

This guy was the stereotypical Conservative Republican voter: White, middle-aged, working class, a big football fan, and he was not just voting Obama, he was out canvassing all day on Election Day. Two years ago, four years ago, I could not have possibly imagined a Republican football coach coming up to me to talk about supporting a black Democrat with a funny, Muslim-sounding name for President. Yesterday, it didn't even seem out of the ordinary, until I got home and realized just how unusual that really was.

I underestimated America. I predicted a win, but what I didn't predict was the extraordinary coalition of Americans that made it happen. Today I understand what Michelle Obama meant when she said early in the campaign that, for the first time, she was truly proud of her country. She was criticized for that statement and even I wondered what possessed her to think that was a smart thing to say on the campaign trail, but I get it now: There's proud of your country because it's yours and you love it, but then there's the kind of proud you are when you see people of all ages and races, able-bodied and disabled, Democrats and Republicans, come together to do something extraordinary.

[Giggle Goose]

I couldn't believe it when my boyfriend texted me at 11:00ish last night. I had gone to bed because I thought it would turn into a big debacle and we'd still be fighting over recounts until late in the week.

I truly feel like the world is happy for us. We've elected someone who is eloquent, in touch, and forward thinking. I've never seen people as energized and excited to vote for a candidate as they were for Obama; and I'm so glad I got to be a part of all this. (And that we have slots in Maryland now).

[AdminAssistant]

a middle-aged man with a remarkable resemblance to Stuntman Mike (from the movie Death Proof)

My favorite movie!!

[XCashier]

There's proud of your country because it's yours and you love it, but then there's the kind of proud you are when you see people of all ages and races, able-bodied and disabled, Democrats and Republicans, come together to do something extraordinary.

I like that. That is exactly right, and exactly what our country did.

Good job with your work for the campaign, Saydrah. I'm glad you did it and glad you enjoyed it. It must've been incredible to be a part of it (and I find myself wishing I'd done it, too).

[SimplyAnother]

Hi, I'm pretty much a newbie, both here and at cs.com, but I read both places.

Yesterday morning I went to my polling place with my mother, my grandmother (84 years old), and my two sons. The line was out the door (we got the obligatory fly over from the local new helicopters), and we tacked onto the end of it. Four hours later we made it to the front of the line to cast our votes.

I have never voted FOR someone before. Sure, I've voted before. I voted against Bush twice. But voting for someone? It's an amazing feeling.

For the first time since 1964 my state has gone for the democratic candidate for president.

Every so often I find myself saying "we did it". I can't believe we did it.

[Amethyst Hunter]

What everyone else said. Thank YOU, gang, for any and all work you did to get us this wonderful new spiffy shiny President!

[daleduke17]

Yes we did. We elected an intellectual, an author, an orator, a Constitutional scholar, a professor, a family man, a world citizen, and a black man as President of the United States, in a landslide victory the likes of which may not be seen again in our lifetimes.

Ronald Reagan might disagree with you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...election,_1980
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_presidential_election

ETA:
So would Bill Clinton:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...election,_1992
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...election,_1996

And Papa Bush:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...election,_1988

[katie kaboom]

and I'm so glad I got to be a part of all this. (And that we have slots in Maryland now).

Really? Kick ass! So when i eventually end up moving back there i can hit the slot machines.

[Kusanagi]

Even though I didn't vote for him (OR McCain), the change in Washington from the old politics is refreshing, and I will support him as the new president elect.

It's been one hell of an election year, I'll gladly admit that much. Congrats to everyone that pulled for him

[Dreamstalker]

I'm still astounded that it was the landslide it was....and how about what happened with Florida? A friend of mine was campaigning there and she's still amazed.

Now I'm a tad worried about the percentage of Obama supporters out there who believe he can wave a magic wand. It's going to take a long time and a fair degree of caution to even begin clearing this mess up. I am however much more hopeful about everything than I was four months ago.

[Saydrah]

Yes, it will take a long time-- as Obama said, we may not get there in one year, we may not even get there in one term, but we will get there.

However it seems almost overnight a magic wand WAS waved and restored the rest of the world's respect for America. I remember my French teacher in Middle School once told me that when she took a bicycle tour through the French countryside as a college student, people would stop her and buy her food or invite her to stay in their homes when they realized she was American. They were so grateful to America for its intervention in WWII.

I remember being shocked because this was the year after Bush was first elected, and when I went to Paris DURING that election, everyone in France was so angry at America. I couldn't imagine anyone there offering me a meal just for being American.

Now it seems possible again that I could be greeted warmly when traveling overseas.

[Slytovhand]

yay, and congrats to you all! Well done with all the effort and hard work put in. and congrats to those who will never read this!

And I'd like to see a couple of comments from the Republicans on here about how they feel about this..

From what I gather, Obama was never really seen as being a 'bad' choice, just not the better (correct??).


But I do have to say something.... no - not one year, and sorry, definitely not 1 term. You'll be lucky to get things good in one decade! There's a lot that needs to be done. 700Billion dollars on a bailout, and how much has been spent on the war? And how much more is going to be spent? Sorry - that's not going to come easy - not when you've already got a recession going on in the first place. AND... on top of that - you've got to start throwing a stack of money into renewable energies.... to give your kids, grandkids, and greatgrandkids a chance at a life worth living.

And I'm seriously hoping that Obama isn't just going to dump Iraq or Afghanistan. Regardless of his party, he is representative of a country that started a war in another country. I'd say that means he's now got a responsibility to make 'reparations'... which does mean staying there for a much longer haul that he'd like... so no pulling all the troops out within the next 2 years 'because it's not our war'... sorry - but yes it is! Australia helped East Timor to declare independence in 1976 (but it didn't get full official independence til '99)... and we've still got troops there (and others, to help with the building etc). I wouldn't expect anything less of the US in Iraq...