A moment in history.

I've been putting off writing this blog post for a few days. I needed to gather my thoughts on the history that was made. I guess I should have written this on Tuesday at 11 p.m because my thoughts are still not going to come out in any coherent manner. (Also... I'm writing this post mostly so that I can remember all of my thoughts and feelings at the exact moment... so if it seems boring, I apologize.)

My experience with this election started long ago. Back in 2004 I can remember sitting at a friend's house and getting my first glimpse at Barack Obama. He was speaking at the 2004 DNC (who doesn't remember this speech?) I can vividly remember asking myself... Who is this guy? His oratory skills are unreal. amazing ideas! He's not afraid to go "there."

At that point in my life I was just realizing that I was a Democrat. Thank God for my parents. My dad had been asking me for years what I thought about issues. It's nothing for us to sit in our living room and debate the death penalty, welfare, the war in Iraq, etc You name it, we've talked about it. My dad's a die hard conservative (who once told me jokingly that the worst thing I could ever be was a Dem) and although my mom votes issue by issue, she had always told both my brother and I to develop our own ideas. But that's a different post for a different day...

So here I was, a Dem. I went off to college in the autumn of 2004 and watched John Kerry lose an election. Most people saw it coming. Over the next few years I became even more concerned with what was going on in our country. Being a news junkie became a way of life. Internally I struggled with my own ideas on what was going on in the world... how did I feel about the wars? How did I feel about abortion? How did I feel about No Child Left Behind?

After 2 summers in D.C. I had a great appreciation for government in general. My second summer with LA proved to be transformative in my outlook on life especially in the areas of social justice. How could we stand by and allow our government to give rights to some and not to others? How was it okay that there had never been a president that didn't fit the male, white, wealthy mold? And more importantly, why had I never considered this before?

During that summer I can remember talking to one of my co-workers about the upcoming election. I was talking about how impressed I was with Sen. Obama's ideas and poise. She replied with this: "Well that will never happen." I asked her why and she just kept repeating that there was no way that he'd be elected. "It just won't be possible." "Don't get your hopes up" she told me. How could she be so cynical about it? Here was a man that she may not agree with, but to just slough off the idea of the first African American president seemed so irrational to me.

I came back to campus that fall and I became more and more excited about the future. Although I liked Hillary, Barack was my main man. Over time, I realized that my good friend Jim (who had supported Bush in 2004) was starting to really get into Obama as well. That winter we decided to get involved in the primary campaign. We painted signs, helped at rallies, and even got to shake Sen Obama's hand as well as Michelle Obama's hand. Michelle even gave Jim a hug (because he was a republican. ugh. That would not be the last time Jim got the best treatment from the campaign for being a conservative supporter.)

Obama lost the primary, but went on to win the nomination. As I sat and watched the speech he made that night, I cried. We had completed the first part. Now it was on to November.

That summer Jim got to go to Denver for free. You can read all about it here. He got to meet a zillion Dems (including OPRAH.) I was so jealous, I'll be honest.

Then came the countdown to November 4th. I came addicted to the news. I developed my favorite CNN anchors, correspondents, and pundits. I started checking realclearpolitics.com and NYTimes.com religiously. Anything I could read, I did. I was obsessed.

Then came November 4th. I was mostly nervous throughout the day. All I wanted to do was go home and watch the news. Alas, I had class and I had to focus on that for the day. That night I had friends over to watch the results. We watched as each state's returns came in. I was thrilled to see both OH and FL go blue pretty early. Once PA and OH went for Obama I knew it was over. Still, I didn't get excited until 11 p.m.

At that moment, when CNN projected that Barack Obama would be the next President of the United States, I was silent. Oh my God. It was really happening. I got text messages and phone calls immediately. I watched the crowd in Grant Park go nuts and wished more than anything that I could be there to celebrate with the masses. I watched McCain's concession speech (which I thought was great... very respectful) and waited for President Elect Obama to take the stage.

When he, along with Michelle, Sasha, and Malia, entered the stage I felt a chill go down my spine. In fact, chills went down my spine throughout the entire speech. The way that he talked about the 106 year old in Atlanta making her way to the polling booth was unreal. All of the history she had seen; the progress she had witnessed.

More importantly, I thought of how my kids will never know a time when it wasn't possible for a person who didn't fit the presidential mold to make it. It's cliche, but I was struck by how much HOPE this brought to the country.

In the coming days, weeks, months, and years, I cannot wait to see how the presidency plays out. I hope that he fulfills all of the expectations that have been placed on him (although that will be no short task) and I hope that he can bring the country together. We are so divided at this point and I hope that the American people can come together to support our new, history making president.

It seemed so unlikely four years ago, but after a process that transformed so much about our ideas, our politics, and our country, there are only three words that can sum up the fight:

Yes we did.