Election Night -- by My Better Half

I asked Suellen to record her own impressions of election night at the Obama Victory Celebration in Chicago, and it follows:

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It snows history, which means what happens to somebody starts in a web of events outside the personal. It starts of course before he gets there. We’re all in history, that’s sure, but some more than others. (Bernard Malamud)

On November 4th, 2008, I got to be “in history”.

It started on October 28th, when I was in AOL and the email from the Obama campaign arrived (2:41 p.m.) ... Did I want a ticket for me and a guest for the rally in Grant Park on election night?

Now, Bob and I had talked about going ... even before we knew it was ticketed. We had decided that on SuperTuesday, we were as close to Obama as we were ever going to be ... and that really, watching it at home was just fine. Preferred even, from Bob’s point of view.

Even with all that, I clicked “register” ...

At 2:51 p.m., I got an email saying:

***THIS IS NOT A TICKET. THIS EMAIL CONFIRMS THAT YOU HAVE SIGNED UP TO RECEIVE AN ELECTION NIGHT EVENT TICKET. ***

You will receive further ticketing information in the coming days.

Thanks,

The Democratic Party

Well, what did that mean exactly?

The next day, when Bob was at the food pantry, he was talking to a friend of ours ... and she had received a different email ... she was on a waiting list.

So, using the “look see” method, I had a good hunch that I was going to get a ticket.

Then my friend Susan called ... and she had heard on NPR about the 2 kinds of email responses ... and she was convinced that I had a ticket.

Sunday, November 2, the email arrived:

Thank you for signing up to receive a ticket for the Election Night event at Hutchinson Field in Grant Park, Chicago.

Your ticket will be emailed to you on Monday, November 3rd, between 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Each ticket is personalized for the ticket holder and is non-transferable.

You must print your ticket and bring it with you to the event. Each ticket is valid for you and one guest.

Thanks,

The Democratic Party

P.S. -- Ticket holders should walk towards Grant Park on Congress Parkway, then walk south on Columbus Drive to the site.

For security reasons, do not bring bags. Photo ID is required. Please limit personal items. No signs, banners, chairs, or strollers allowed.

Then came the hard part of “deciding”. Bob didn’t have to go ... I knew many people that would be happy to be my “guest” ... so it was up to Bob to decide if he wanted to go ... or stay at home and watch TV.

Election Day...

We voted early afternoon ... no line, but then our precinct is small ... and most everyone works.

I checked and double checked and triple checked that my drawn solid line was just that ... that I had indeed voted for Barack Obama.

All through this campaign process, I was afraid to hope too much. After all, I had felt this way once before ... with Bobby Kennedy.

My main task at Grant Park was to keep the jumbo-tron in my sights. Being short has real disadvantages in a crowd! We managed to find a small “hill” and not too many tall people. So the hours of watching returns come in began. CNN has a unique sound when they were about to make a projection … so the crowd did quiet some … and if the projection was for Obama, there were cheers and applause … and if the state went for McCain … boos.

You could tell that people were beginning to think “it might happen” … that the numbers might just be there … that this might be a real success … but no one, I think, was willing to say it outloud.

Everyone was, of course, waiting for the polls on the West coast to close … since those would be some big numbers. We counted down the seconds to 10:00 our time … and moments after that … CNN put up the message that they were projecting Obama the winner.

The crowd didn’t just cheer … it was a wave of a roar … it started at the front and rolled backwards … and I’m sure the very ground in Grant Park shook from the collective release of emotions. It was finally real. And the numbers were enough that it couldn’t be “stolen” … it was clear that all across the country, Obama’s message had been heard and people had listened and had decided to “vote for change”.

It took another hour for Obama to address the crowd … and the cheer for him at 11:00, while enthusiastic and loud, was nothing compared to the rumble that had happened an hour earlier. A "this is REAL" moment came before Obama spoke, when there was an announcement from the the stage, "1, 2, 1, 2 ... final sound check for the President-Elect of the United States".

During that hour, we listened to music, danced, and watched a film montage. At one point, the jumbo-tron showed the “presidential-elect motorcade” coming to Grant Park from whatever nearby hotel Obama and family had been at. And you realized his life was never going to be the same … that he was always going to be surrounded by Secret Service … and that for him to go anywhere was now “a production”. And the flip side of that … the Secret Service around McCain were no longer needed. He was just a citizen again.

Even though I knew going in to this event I would not have the same kind of experience as we did on Super Tuesday, that there was no way we would ever be as physically close as we were that night … I knew November 4th, 2008, had the chance to be a changing moment in history … and we had been given the opportunity to be present at such an historical moment … and I’m so happy we took it.

I don’t plan to forget the sound and feeling of the roar of the crowd … that one moment when what so many had worked for for so long became true … a moment when hope became real.

So many made “Yes, we can” “Yes, we did”.