11:27 WTF?? This is the cleanest John McCain has sounded ALL election. Is this the same dude that gave that horrid "That's not change you can believe in" speech? He sounds almost unburdened in defeat.
11:18 Is anyone watching Jesse on MSNBC? He's bawling. Who can blame him.
11:08 Woke the boy up. Kenyatta just came in the door. I'm out in Brooklyn with my great, great editor Chris Jackson and his lovely wife Sarah. We are about to toast. Samori is holding a glass but falling out. Folks, here we go. What did Nas say? If I ruled the world?
10:53 CNN calls it--we did it guys. It's done.
10:52 FOX calls Virginia for Obama. Oh my. Fox just wants this night to be over with. That said--a black Dem taking Virginia is just gigantic.
10:49 Will.I.AM. discussing Obama via hologram on CNN--scary on multiple levels.
10:00 Iowa goes to Barry. The sleeper hold tightens a little more...
9:51 From the Dept of Can't Beat 'Em, claim credit. I'm listening to Karl Rove and Chris Wallace claim that Obama "moved to the center" and didn't campaign as a liberal. Last week he was a socialist. Now he's Reagan.
9:36 From Andrew:
Ohio! Obama won every age group under 60. He won 64 percent of the under-30s. This is Obama's achievement; but it is also Karl Rove's.
9:24 Fox projects Ohio for Obama. The sleeper-hold tightens. And NBC.
8:49 Yglesias has the goods on the dishonorable Joe Lieberman.
8:38 Listening to Smerconish talk Pennsy. Man Palin killed them. Absolutely murdered them.
8:36 Georgia to McCain. I know you tried Hotlanta.
8:24 Grats to Kay Hagan.
8:10 Just saw Pennsy went for Barry. That's curtains.I'm serious. It's curtains.
7:46 Si se puede, Katai! And T.D. Jake wasn't so bad...
7:41 Wait, T.D. Jakes is an election analyst???
7:37 Exit Poll Data. You guys are probably up on this, but here it is. Please take this as what it is--early indicators. Could be true. Could not be true.
8:49 Yglesias has the goods on the dishonorable Joe Lieberman.
8:38 Listening to Smerconish talk Pennsy. Man Palin killed them. Absolutely murdered them.
8:36 Georgia to McCain. I know you tried Hotlanta.
8:24 Grats to Kay Hagan.
8:10 Just saw Pennsy went for Barry. That's curtains.I'm serious. It's curtains.
7:46 Si se puede, Katai! And T.D. Jake wasn't so bad...
7:41 Wait, T.D. Jakes is an election analyst???
7:37 Exit Poll Data. You guys are probably up on this, but here it is. Please take this as what it is--early indicators. Could be true. Could not be true.
Ohio: Obama +87:32 I'm here folks. Let's go.
New Mexico: Obama +9
Virginia: Obama +9
Pennsylvania: Obama +15
Missouri: Obama +7
Florida: Obama +4
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
I can't breathe...
Well, tonight should be something. I hope that Obama wins and McCain gracefully admits defeat. We don't need no drama...
How long after Virginia closes should we expect a report?
For a bit of non-political fun, here's a great excerpt from Allen Iverson's initial press conference with the Pistons today.
It'll probably depend on how fast the results get in in Va and how divided the polls are. I'm trying to remember the advice on 538 to ignore exit polls as they usually over-represent Democrats.
Dammit. Can it be tomorrow morning now?
Got my kids Panda Express
Got me a six pack of Negro Modelo.
Took a bath.
If I had xanax, I'd take one.
Never ever ever ever ever have I been so invested in an election, and I've been voting since 1972.
AMEN
A great day: 70 degrees in Minneapolis, and smooth sailing at my polling place. I'm celebrating tonight and taking tomorrow off.
I abused my right to vote until today; this is the first time I've ever voted Dem. And it was the easiest fucking decision I've ever made. Here's to a short night of anxiety, and a long night of celebration.
Can I get a Xanax, I'm unable to just chill!!!
If you're Black, you gotta go to work tomorrow. Those are like rules of engagement; Yes?
Georgia on my mind....
Watched his "Fired up? Ready to go?" speech. Count me in.
I'm trying to write my goddamn PhD thesis proposal and this election is causing all sorts of problems for me.
Things looking good.
From fivethirtyeight.com:
Just looking at some of the places where we have results in so far. Obama is substantially outperforming Kerry -- which is what he needs to do to win the state, of course, but the differences are pretty substantial.
Steuben: Kerry 34%, Obama 42%
DeKalb: Kerry 31%, Obama 38%
Knox: Kerry 36%, Obama 54%
Marshall: Kerry 31%, Obama 50%
And KY, of all places:
McCain
89,012 51%
Obama
83,712 48%
Pacing. Nauseous. Can't relax.
Liquor stores are pumping like it's New Year's Eve. Which I guess it kinda is.
Cracking the bottle in a few...
Did I hear xanax? Throw one down here please...
CNNs exit poll has Obama up by 10 in VA...
Not to jinx it, but its starting to look like a landslide.
Is it just me, or is that demographics cat on CNN a body double for Dr. Bunsen Honeydew?
Yeah, just heard VA is not even close for McRage!!!!!!
"Is it just me, or is that demographics cat on CNN a body double for Dr. Bunsen Honeydew?"
Does that make Soledad Beaker?
Si se puede, Coates!
I wore my hipster Obama tee to the office today (a vinyl record with "BAMA" written in the center) and want to scream "Yes We Can!" every time I pass a co-worker. My boss and I had an exchange wherein she told me about being in college during the civil rights movement. And she said, "An African-American president! In my generation! I didn't think this would happen in my lifetime." And she was so overcome with emotion that she had to run to her office for a tissue. She's a 60-something white woman. It's a damned beautiful day.
Goodbye to all my idiot Texas school friends' fear and loathing. I felt like I needed to smoke a cigarette after voting today. Sitting around all day thinking "so that's what they're talking about." Like I just climbed out of the backseat of a car in high school or something.
Just got back from the Nas-Mos Def-De La Soul-The Pharcyde concert in Stockholm, Sweden. Great atmosphere, great lyricism, great tracks, great support for Barack! Nas called it for Obama 2 minutes into the concert, just to make it clear. Yes You Can America!
I'm cooking supper to relax. Spinach and flour tortelloni with a lovely seafood and veggie green pesto/white wine sauce. Listening to Bob Marley. Can we concoct an awesome, multicolored ripaste on this historic evening? Yes, we can!
I've been crying on and off all day. At the polls. Out canvassing. Reading accounts of others' poll experiences. I keep wishing my parents were alive for this. I'm an emotional wreck. But in a good way.
I took my 1 year old into the booth with me. He pushed the button for Obama.
I think this is going to be a very good day.
Any illusions I had about doing my Law School reading tonight have gone out the window. Not only have we got Obama poised, but I have LeBron as a Piston to look forward to in 2010. Now it's just a matter of deluding myself into thinking I can get anywhere near Grant Park once the election is called.
"I'm trying to write my goddamn PhD thesis proposal and this election is causing all sorts of problems for me."
Poor Joel. What the thesis on?
GKM,
We're got what the guys in my house call "steak chips," sliced in two inch strips, sauted in butter, to eat as finger food provided you lick your fingers. Goes nicely with mushrooms, fresh bread, steamed broccoli.
Also, tonight's Coca-Cola is in green glass bottles, very cold, because that's what my grandmother would have served.
Same spot Joel...thesis just hasn't been coming out...advisor is pissed...totally worth it.
So CNN has McCain up 8-3. Comebacks are always more thrilling.
I can't stand it. I'm going to the gym to work off some nerves. What time do we figure Obama will give his victory speech?
I am so anxious I can't stand it. So many of us have been badly traumatized by the direction this country went in and the choices that were made (or made for us). I can't bear the thought of McSame. What an ugly spectre looming. We really need this to go in a new direction and for the country to choose Obama. Breathe... breathe ...
breathe...
Oh man, I think I'm gonna get an ulcer before this night is over with. I'm crossing my fingers for NC, VA, and FL
I was planning on downing a few beers to calm my nerves but for some reason I'm pretty calm.
Much more calm than I was in 2000 and 2004.
I guess it's because I don't see this as a race that's going to come down to 2 states. Obama's got options.
Anyway, my prediction, he wins VA pretty easily considering it's switching from red to blue. NC will be close but Obama wins. FL will be it's usual nutty self and we'll be treated to some drama.
Sporcupine,
Yummy!
You guys,
Deep, slow breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Get you something good to eat. It's going to be a long night, and we all need to keep up our strength.
is anyone watching pbs? mccain party in az is playing "nowhere man" - that's gotta pump up the base
"making all his nowhere plans for nobody"
MSNBC calls PA for Obama!!!!!!
Look at that Florida margin!
Beaker? I hardly know her.
I'm so, so sorry.
Can we please, please, please speed up time? I'm not asking for much, just 4 or 5 hours.
Hubby has suggested that we watch some Three Stooges DVDs to keep ourselves in check. "Jerk of All Trades," anyone?
God, watching the stuff come in is just so stressful and yet enthralling.
NPR says NH and PA trending Obama. Not surprising, but still reassuring. (The other "trendings" were all things like MA for Obama and OK for McCain.)
GKM posts: "Hubby has suggested that we watch some Three Stooges DVDs to keep ourselves in check. "
Three Stooges? Never heard of 'em.
New Hampshire being called for Obama immediately is significant, too.
Howard Dean's on MSNBC now. He's a national hero. He could have retreated after the way he was unfairly abused in 2004, but he didn't. He put his head down and went to work. Obama didn't do it all alone, and I'm sure he'd be the first to say Dean deserves much of the credit.
Hmmm, the juxtaposition between the Biltmore crowd (funeral music??) and the party at Grant park is unbelievable on CNN! I want less Wolf more Anderson....sigh...and John King.
Why are you all so nervous? This election has been in the bag all year long.
I think Barack Obama and George Bush deserve far more credit for Obama's victory than Howard Dean.
Amen, Moe. Howard Dean got this ground game started in those really, really dark days for the Dems. He should definitely take a bow this evening, assuming things hold up.
But we should be careful about celebrating before crossing the goal line - getting our Leon Lett on. B.O. hasn't flipped a "red" state as of yet.
Does anyone know how they are calling these states? How do you call a state with 0% in? No one is explaining it, and fivethirtyeight.com is down!
Had to take a break from the coverage, so stressful to watch. This is so damn important to so many people...
Had to retreat to the bedroom to throw on some Sam Cooke...
A change is gonna come indeed, looks like it's happening as we speak.
ML&J,
You are correct, sir. Dean is the man. A major part of what I hope will be my elation tomorrow morning will be to see Doc Howard vindicated.
Everybody do the Dean scream! On three...
Does anyone know how they are calling these states? How do you call a state with 0% in?
Exit polls?
I think that depending on the news organization or blog the standards are different for just what equals a win.
Some I guess are more conservative after the last few elections and don't rely on the exit polling as much.
Others don't care and go for it.
Anything to be first. It gets ratings.
It's probably easiest for me to just write "Cell biology and biochemistry"
The NYTimes map has county level results. There are blue spots in Georgia to make me wipe my eyes, and blue spots in (generally hopeless) Kentucky to make me gasp.
As the official representative of white folks in Chicago I have but one "ting" to say:
"My Nipples are exploding with delight"
I'm gonna order me a pizza, get a Craigslist hooker and celebrate.
I hate me that George Bush.
Go back to shooting moose from helicopters Sarah........cause you ain't gonna be VP........BIATCH.
Senator McCain............time to write a really nice condolence speech. Mention what a great nation we live in that in a forty year period we went from George Wallace to Barack Obama. For all our myriad faults this country RULES and the other countries DROOL.
Where's my hooker?
@IrishPirate
NICE! Stay classy Chicago!! Stockholm is drooling all over your son! I'm in awe of Obama, and quite jealous of the US. But i'm also happy that for four years we get to deal with a really intelligent, softspoken, prudent man with a real agenda of mutual respect and good and hard diplomacy! Obama is THE MAN in Sweden.
Your hooker has been paid for by Foreigners (pronounced [fur:ners]) for Obama and will be delivered after the election.
Dean, yeah Dean's like The Beatnuts, he gets props over here.
He became a national laughingstock after the scream, but I could never really figure out why.
He showed so much passion during that primary. He believes in this shit and for that he's always had my respect and admiration.
Clotilde,
I thought if I went to the gym I would work myself into a frenzy and be too tired to be frenetic...bad move, I am still wound up! I am in VA and will be so glad when this is over.
FreshEDoug writes: "I think Barack Obama and George Bush deserve far more credit for Obama's victory than Howard Dean."
Obviously Obama does. Dumbya just deserves a swift kick in the balls. Better yet, make that two kicks. One for each ball.
Asher wrote: "Why are you all so nervous? This election has been in the bag all year long."
Take it from a theater geek, if you're not nervous, you probably have something to be nervous about. Political theater is no different. And no election is in the bag until the votes are counted.
MSNBC calls Georgia for McCain. Boo. Not gonna change the outcome, but I wanted Georgia bad.
Well my local gay sports bar has a drag queen Sarah Palinperforming tonight.
I've never been there and I'm not even gay. Some right wingers suggest Obama will make gay marriage compulsory. Perhaps I should go and find me a rich hubby. Or I could take "Sarah" home. "You betcha".
That would be change we can believe in.
I'm attributing Dole's loss to her Godless ad.
And I hope all those praying for God to show his will in this election will accept that God did that. (I've suspected an almighty hand since Obama's two opponents for the Senate went down to sequential sex scandals.)
As long as we are thanking Dumbya well then Palin also deserves some thanks I guess...her ass continued with straight up crzy talk until the end. Over at Andrew's blog I see she tried to equate her husband's racial struggles?? to a black guy's at her rally.
Palin's hubby is 1/8th Eskimo.
I just had two Eskimo Pies from my grocery store as I wait for my victory hooker to show up.
Hell, I'm as much an Eskimo as the "first dude".
I'm pale and I like cold weather.........what more proof do you need?
Please God. Let Sarah Palin be the GOP nominee for President in 2012.........actually for the next 24 years.............she can keep coming back......like a busty locust with a shotgun.
"making all his nowhere plans for nobody"
Toshi: Ha ha! Loves it. Thanks, I needed that.
"And no election is in the bag until the votes are counted."
Really. So you don't think that, say, California is totally in the bag for Obama? Or Oregon? Some things are just in the bag - this election is one of them.
so, which channel are you all watching?
@ Irish pirate,
I understand that about the hubby, but I still think she was comparing apples and oranges... so that ultimately she just amped up the incessant crazy vibe she gives off.
But that's neither here nor there...
I absolutely love the fact that the world is just partying right now. George Bush's own personal self approval rating must just be in the tank right now. To know that a good chunk of the entire world is celebrating the end of your tenure...it's got to be a downer.
Asher,
I hope you're right. But wouldn't you agree that some of us have cause to be just a little bit paranoid? Bush v. Gore wasn't all that long ago.
I was looking at the pictures from yesterday when Obama was in Jacksonville, Florida, my hometown. I grew up there in the late 50s and 60s. I'm still trying to reconcile all of this with what I remember. It's surreal, almost like some kind of closure.
Yeah, it's time for Sam Cooke, as someone above said.
At about 8:05 they were calling states and senate races and the Republican on NPR asked for his crying towel, because it looked like a lousy night and with NH and PA gone, McCain was done.
5 minutes until I can hope for word on Elwyn Tinkelerg from MN.
@Joel: When my husband was in grad school he got a great chain e-mail. The idea was to write a paragraph on each of the top 5 thesis topics and send it to the graduate student in question. Take the top name off, add your name and thesis topic to the bottom, and within a few months you would have a thesis.
Florida and Ohio are going to go Obama. I can feel it.
This election will be a Michael Corleone election. Tonight we're going to settle all of the family business.
You betcha dog on it!
Watching CNN.
How is it possible that they could not call Texas for McCain????? They called Wyoming for him and the Upper Midwest for Obama......
ML&J,
Please be right about Florida. I would probably stop being so damn nervous if you were right about us.
I've got one extremely tired kindergartner next to me, but I can't let him go to bed for a while yet.
When I was almost exactly this age, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and it's one of the earliest things I remember. I think it would be cool if this turns out the same for him.
Yeah, GKM, if the election were really close, you would have reason to be paranoid about the Court taking it in a recount. But no reason to be paranoid about this election. If Obama had come out yesterday and announced that he wanted to repeal Clinton's welfare reform and bring back the Great Society, he'd still be winning.
How cool is it that the first state called for Obama was Vermont? Purely symbolic, but a spruce feather in Dean's cap.
I was watching NBC, now PBS. They don't feed the stat beast like NBC, but (maybe I'm getting old) the pace is less stressful. And they just called Ohio for 'Bama1
Drink of the eve: Buffalo Trace bourbon. Kentucky will learn.
I can't take this. I've been in full freak out mode since 6:15 this morning when I got up to vote on the UES. I'm not even watching the coverage steadily. I'm jumping in and out.
Is CNN the most aggravating news channel to watch the returns or is it just me?
Now watching MSNBC as they seem to call things a but before CNN....They just called Ohio for Obama which means this thing is basically done!!! Amazing!
With Ohio called for Obama, it is next to impossible for McCain to win.
Congrats to all the Obama supporters.
Re CNN, Wolf just doesn't do it for me....but the rest of them I really like so it's my channel of choice. Plus I like the conservatism.
Way to go OHIO! I was sure they would find a way to at least delay things, if not fuck them up all together.
na na na na na na na, McCain dead in O-Hi-O!
Hello there!!
The news is just in…..OBAMA takes Ohio….and THAT is the state that determines the election now! The Republicans can not win it without winning Ohio....
Ladies and gents...
BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA
44th President of the United States
Yesssss… in our lifetime!
dan says: "na na na na na na na, McCain dead in O-Hi-O!"
I knew someone would do that.
I'm STOKED.
Im watching cnn, seeing the 538, andrew and TNC blogs, and drinking amberbock....
Thank God, it's all over.
It's done. He did it.
Now I can go off and smile and cry for the next few hours.
The sense of relief feels good.
Now I want 350. Give us the mandate and prove this country is not still a north/south divide.
Now watching MSNBC as they seem to call things a but before CNN....They just called Ohio for Obama which means this thing is basically done!!! Amazing!
The CNN guy basically gave every state left but the West Coast and Hawaii to McCain and he still didn't get to 270. It's all over but the crying.
And as I type, NM goes to Obama... this is over.
Maybe I'm not as well versed in electoral math, patterns or whatever, but shouldn't we wait until at least a few media outlets report Obama clearing 270 before we break out the champagne (sp)?
Also, love this blog. Read it everyday.
I wonder what kind of alcohol David Duke is drowning his sorrows in tonight.
Nate Silver, for one, just called it.
For my part, I just booked a plane ticket to DCA for the morning of Jan. 20.
Now let's all say our prayers for the Big Brother.
Maybe I'm not as well versed in electoral math, patterns or whatever, but shouldn't we wait until at least a few media outlets report Obama clearing 270 before we break out the champagne (sp)?
The West Coast and Hawaii can't be called until their polls close at 11:00pm ET. The election likely can't be called without them, but there's no chance they are going for McCain.
AMT, the west coast (CA, OR, WA, HI) have enough to put Obama over the top and it is nearly impossible for McCain to win any of those states.
Obama may not have campaigned as a socialist but he now has an obligation to govern as one. slash wingnut logic
Now, all eyes on NO on prop 8.
That would be so sweet!
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
Hell no.
But it's over now. No realistic or even realistically unrealistic way for McCain to win.
All Hail Our Keynan Kommunist Kansan Overlord.
What an election.
I hope President Elect Obama is as impressive as Candidate Obama.
May the Force be as strong in him as the farce is in me.
Thanks for setting me straight.
My favorite political slang of this election cycle is "drinking the Kool-aid".
Anyone else have favorites?
My hands are shaking. This race is really over. And Obama goes to the White House.
Times has changed, Miz Scarlett. Times has changed.
And a good thing, too.
I live in Canada and we don't get Fox News but they were showing the Fox News coverage on the regular Fox station and we were watching that from time to time. But that station has now gone back to showing a Seinfeld rerun.
H/T to Woody Guthrie:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me
I can't believe it and I can't stop crying and I can't stop being so, so glad I live here.
Thanks, Asher. Believe it or not, your antagonistic calm has actually chilled me out somewhat. That, and the Red Stripe. I'm watching Comedy Central now. I'm still not popping the corks yet. Prudence. But thanks, still. You're a mensch, whether you like it or not.
AMT, "drinking the Kool-aid" is right up there with "na' gonna do it" and "strategery" for political slang of "this" election season.
On a local board in Chicago some wag referred to and this is a close quote "drinkin' the kool aid from the toilet bowl of wide stance "conswervatism".
NY Times has the best online coverage. Try the Pop-Up Dashboard -- it gives you the rundown by state and show who's called what.
After Colorado, I'm thinking of switching over to Fox -- just for the pleasure of watching those cretins squirm.
Sorry for the double post, but like voting here in Chicago I like to do things twice.
Sorry for the double post, but like voting here in Chicago I like to do things twice.
Are we quoting song lyrics? Here's the one I keep thinking of, "Democracy" by Leonard Cohen. Amy Goodman plays it sometimes.
"It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that this ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A."
And right about this moment, Rush Limbaugh's head is exploding.
Or at least we can hope...
Yes we can!
I miss Donna Brasile... where is she at?
I wish I was in CHICAGO right now. Bummer, but enjoying watching the crowds pour in...
Last week he was a socialist. Now he's Reagan.
All your moderates are belonging to us now.
Obama won this election more than McCain lost it. But in the final analysis McCain's playing to the base will be what cost him. (Look how many moderates cite Palin as the reason they broke to Obama.)
Sending my daughter up to bed a little after 9 she asked how it was going; I showed her the live feeds from Chicago and Arizona. She got it.
WE DID IT!!! It's real man, and it feels so sweet. That said, I may be a fiend, but I want Virgina so bad I can taste it. North Carolina, too.
"I wish I was in CHICAGO right now."
Me, too!
He had it comin' (He had it comin')
He only had himself to blame
If you'd a been there, if you'd a seen it
I think that you would have done the same
If we're quoting song lyrics, I feel this is slightly a propos, both because T.D. Jakes is doing analysis on MSNBC and because... well...
Can't y'all see that he's fake, the rap version of TD Jakes
Prophesizing on your CDs and tapes
Won't break you a crumb of the little bit that he makes
And this is with whom you want to place your faith?
I also am wondering about Donna Brazile....why is she not on CNN tonight?
Fox (!) called Virginia for Obama. That must taste oh-so-bitter.
Rove is out of his damn mind. Sitting there spinning while his erector set collapses.
Gotta love the National Review online.
Apparently, the problem with McCain's campaign was too "honorable," and K-LO is shocked that people deemed all that Hannity had to say irrelevant.
With 91% of the vote in, Obama has Virginia. I'm in tears. This is amazing.
It's over.
Congratulations to Barack Obama, the President-elect. Good luck & godspeed, sir. I got chills typing that.
Oh, and the cell phone networks are down here in the ATL...
I'm about to start drinking in celebration. This toon and these two tunes from George Harrison say it all for me.
So boys and girls, ladies and gents, be proud of your fellow countrymen today. Be proud of yourselves. Also say a prayer for this nation if you believe in that sorta thang. Say a prayer for President Elect Obama and his family. He has a rough job ahead.
So from Chicago..........Goodnight...........and May God Bless the United States of America. After the past 8 years we need a break!
Congratulations to TNC, all the Bam supporters and the Dems!
I voted otherwise and will be an ankle-biting critic. But for now, congratulations on your moment of glory!
Let us hope Obama serves us all well!
How sad his grandmother (and so many others) didn't get to see this.
How fortunate we are to get to see this.
We just got closer to that more perfect union. I love my country.
WE DID IT!
Thank you, TNC, for being here. I'll continue to read you every day, no matter what.
-Ben
Is this real?? Could it possibly be real? Oh my goodness, it's real.
Thanks, you guys. Thanks for being here on this night. This is the most amazing night of my life. Thank you!!
There is no Red America, and no Blue America, there is the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
I am so proud.
Love to all!
Ta-Nehisi, thank you. To all who suffered, bled, sweated and worried - to all of you - no matter who you are - my love.
I will never forget this night.
MSNBC just called Florida for Obama. I don't even know what I'm doing. I'm a mess.
WE actually did it. Here comes McCain.
i fall down on my knees and cry. i can't find the joy, yet. the cost has been huge. when king was killed i was in basic training in ft.dix, i fell down on my knees and cried. when rfk was killed i was at ft. holabird in dundalk, md., putting mattresses on a tractor trailer. i fell down on my knees and cried. i was lost, and perhaps i have been lost since then. since those days i never knew where it would end or begin.
i can't believe it yet. it is the end of the beginning. we are better people than i ever thought we would be.
Wow. Just wow. To (slightly) paraphrase Michelle, I have never been prouder of my country than I am right now.
McCain's giving a very classy concession speech. Good on him.
The moment the race was called, people started popping out of houses in my largely black, normally quiet, South Berkeley neighborhood, shouting "Obamaaaa!" Fireworks are going off, horns are honking. I've never seen anything like it.
Jesse crying like that - wow...
I am truly beyond words right now.
If only Senator McCain had been as classy during the campaign as he is being during his concession speech.
KevDog wake up your kindergartner!
Ability and effort won!
Deleted. Come on man.
Um, that concession speech was basically a way worse version of the convention speech. I think now that your guy's won you're free to look at him through less of a "this man is an evil Republican" filter.
The greatest campaign I've ever seen. A democrat who pulled a Reagan. Cheers!!!!!!
I love this country!
I love Barack Obama!
And I love this champagne!
YES, WE DID!
Thank you to every last one of you, who voted, who phone-banked, who canvassed, who drove voters to the polls.
My god this was a beautiful thing to be a part of. I never in my life expected to be turned away from a black Democratic candidate's HQ in not 1 but 3 different places in deep red Virginia due to too many volunteers.
To all of you:
Forever, you are my brothers and sisters.
Now the real fight begins. Let's celebrate tonight, and then tomorrow let's get to work.
Even Fred the Troll can't fuck this night up. Buh Bye, Freddie.
Legitimate points, T-NC. I did offer you congratulations, but you know my points are legit.
I'm happy. I hope everyone out there watched the speech. I hope everyone out there gives him a chance to govern.
America for me has always been two slightly out-of-focus images: one the America we see today, the nation that gets freaked out and blindly launches stupid wars, the nation that panics and stampedes to torture brown people, the nation that enslaved a people and freed them grudgingly and partially; the other the ideal enshrined in our Constitution and the writings of the founding fathers, a city on a hill and a beacon to the world. Tonight, those images came into closer focus. Tomorrow, I'll wake up in a better country than the one I woke up in this morning.
Yes. We. DID!
I dedicate this amazing victory to the Freds of the world. Without your diehard stupidity and devotion to pure evil this would just not taste as sweet.
So, to Fred - I hope this feels as bad for you as it feels good for decent human beings.
I just wish Peter Leavitt were still alive to suffer through this.
Congratulations to everyone who cared so much about electing this man. And everyone who worked so hard for it, and donated time, and money.
I'm so damn proud of this country. Four years ago, I almost lost my faith. But this has made up for it, big time.
The pressure on Obama is huge - but he seems to have the capacity to raise his game at the necessary moments. We can only pray he does.
Sam Cooke had it right. Change has come.
I just got off the phone with my mom, we've been on for two hours straight since the election was called at 11 PM ET. She's 79, white, Irish Catholic, and like all of my suburban Philly family, voted for Barack. The first thing she said when they called it for Obama was: "We did this. We ALL did this."
And when I told her about Andrew's photo of the Irish celebrating in Obama's ancestral hometown and joked, "Of course he's part Irish -- everyone's got Irish ancestors," her reply was (no creationist she):
"And everyone's got Kenyan ancestors too."
I missed the Freddery. Came back after deletion. I would have liked to hear his points. Just because.
But WE DID IT, you guys!
This is only the beginning. Now we have to hold our President's feet to the fire. We have to end the war. We have to shut down the atrocity of Guantanamo Bay. We have to hold accountable those responsible for this atrocity, and others. We have to ensure equality under the law for all Americans. We have to roll back executive power, and keep that authoritarian impulse in check.
This is our time! This is our moment! Yes, reach out, and find common ground, but please, Mr. President-Elect, and the Democratic Congress, don't ignore the millions who voted and canvassed and fought for this.
Earlier today, Claire McCaskill was basically saying that Obama would shift to the right. I think the lesson of the Clinton years (not to mention the Bush years) ought to be that the nutcases will never be appeased. When we try to appease them, they just get nuttier. So let's do what's correct, instead of what the pundits say.
This is what we call a landslide around these parts. Let's take a day or two to enjoy it, and then let's get back to work. As a nation, we are far from the ideals that we all love. It's time to stop the complacency. Maybe this time our president will listen to us. We have a mandate-- a real mandate, a damn landslide. We don't have to pretend as Bush and the media did in 2004.
Yes, let's dance in the streets, but let's not dance into a trap. We pay our government's salary. They work for us. Let us never forget that again.
zacksback says: "And when I told her about Andrew's photo of the Irish celebrating in Obama's ancestral hometown and joked, "Of course he's part Irish -- everyone's got Irish ancestors," her reply was (no creationist she):
"And everyone's got Kenyan ancestors too.""
You betcha dog on it!
Somewhere, Lucy is smiling.
And I'm an atheist.
Sweet day all around.
It is 1:11am november 5th. I am sitting in my living room, and my address is within 6 blocks from the white house. I am sitting in my window watching the events below, and I am amazed, humbled, and full of pride. Our neighborhood welcomes its newest member with open arms. It is a collective excitement I cannot convey over written word, or even video. To be here, to feel it, to hear it, to smell it, to really know the moment I am part of is amazing.
Thank you Barack, thank you DC, Thank you MD (my other home state), thank you all of the US.
Finally thank you Ta-Nishisi for being a steady voice for those, black and white, white like me, who get it, who are American above all.
This is a joyous day, one is which i cried tears of joy and pride. God bless us all.
Wesley
Lucy's a hot little pre-historic tamale. I would totally hit that.
And I'm an atheist.
Yeah, sweet day. First election I ever helped to win. Rock on.
A real triumph for fraternity over xenophobia.
Congratulations from an Australian who loves you and today envies you. And extra congratulations on behalf of my late mum who would have led cheers all night.
And equality!
And liberty, dammit! (Since I believe we have a promise from Constitutional law student Obama to review the last eight years and determine Executive powers correctly.)
And mutual trust and respect - how well rewarded!
And social faith!
You're back, guys. America is back on track. So proud.
We let our almost five year old stay up to watch the speech and the end when the Obamas and the Bidens walked out together, the four of them arm in arm, and they looked so beautiful and radiant he turned to me and said "mom, did they live happily ever after?" as if it was the end of a movie.
Here's to all of us living happily ever after.
Of course McCain looks relieved - when he said Obama "has my sympathy" I thought he was going to say "for winning the election and taking on the mess, ha ha" but then it turned out he was talking about his grandmother.
But seriously - tonight is as good as it gets. No matter what happens tomorrow, we'll always have today.
My earliest memory is sitting on a big couch with various family members in the huge Northeast blackout in November, 1965. I was just over 4 years old, but I really do remember it.
It's not much as earliest memories go. I think a lot of kids will have a better one after today. I hope they carry it on and build on it.
I've never given up on this country, but it's nice to be reminded why I didn't. This night did just that.
The two hours from 10pm CST, when my neighbors on my quiet middle class street ran outside and started banging pots and pans (!), till I checked in on Prop 8 were glorious hours.
But I'm feeling deflated and so personally discriminated against as I see prop 8 leading 53-47. I don't live in CA (or AZ or FL or the other states where anti-gay initiatives are flying to approval).
Andrew's exit polling data about the African American vote on Prop 8 is hitting me hard, taking some of the sweetness of Obama's victory from me, and that makes me sad--I so want to enjoy and savor this HUGE moment for America and for the African American role in electoral politics.
Have we learned so little? In the old system, white men stole the personhood of black men, and all women. But we passed suffrage for women. And the Voting Rights act and the hard work since then has gotten us to Obama.
But as a nation we think it is OK to put the rights of a minority up for a vote by the majority? It's no longer a few white men making the rules, but this nation is robing me and my sisters and brothers of a key element of our personhood. And it feels sharply painful because the wrong is being perpetrated by so many voters.
Why is this OK, and why especially now, at this moment that so many are calling transformative?
"The true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or from the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope."
May we live up to those ideals, tonight and in the next four years. It's going to take one hell of a collective effort. Can we do it?
Congratulations, America. Your friends are proud of you.
And an extra shake of the hand for the coloured people, negroes, blacks, African Americans and all their follow travelers of all races who have been fighting for civil rights for as long as I can remember. I hope this night is as sweet for you as I imagine it to be.
Wesley - I know exactly what you mean.
Epic.
Anyone else head down to Penn Ave during this? My god, I'm damn cynical about this guy's policies compared to the expectations, but I have NEVER (in my admittedly young life) seen a city alive like DC was today (maybe Boston 2004 was an exception, but at least it was peaceful here).
It is easy for me to forget in the midst of all my qualifications for my support of Obama how important this man's Presidency already is - this was my first election and to see the guys who were here 40 years ago walk to the White House and know who's going there next is just something else. Maybe January I'll be back to second guessing this guy, but I don't have to be a diehard to be happy and be proud about what just happened.
TNC, thank you for all the blogging.
Congratulations to Obama and the country. Everyone in the US has something to be proud of right now.
Even if things don't turn out quite like we might hope they do over the next four years, even if Pres. Obama doesn't do nearly as well as we hope.....tonight, our country is a far better place than it was only a few hours ago.
Seattle was hopping last night. Like beer in the streets fireworks and climbing the telephone poles excited. I think I need some sleep.