This sums up my reaction perfectly. I am too emotionally repressed to actually bawl like a baby (like I would’ve wanted to) but I teared up enough that if someone saw me, and asked me if I was crying, I could have said with reasonable plausability that I just had something in my eye.
Absolutely. I am still misting up when they show footage from that night.
I have been embarrassed for years about how badly the United States has been behaving, especially with all the advantages we enjoy. But I feel a great deal of special pride for our country just now, that for over 200 years we have been conducting elections and that the will of the electorate can still - still! - create changes like we just did.
I had the priviledge to watch the election coverage with my father this year. When they called it for Obama, without a word we both looked at each other with tears in our eyes, raised our beers in a silent toast, and waited for the speeches to unfold.
Powerful stuff to make a 58-year old man and his 24-year old son cry at the same moment, and not require words to explain.
Here are some pictures:
I only wish I’d thought to make a video. Because these kids were LOUD.
My wife and I balled our eyes out. She’s biracial (75% Native American) so this meant a great deal to her. Every time they showed a crowd shot of young people we started balling again. Our 4 children (in their 20s), and most youth, helped elect this man. They do not see people as Black or White…we raised 'em right. It’s the weekend after, and we’re still giddy.
The next morning my 85 year old father called and said, “I hope that son of a bitch from Texas ends up in prison and is never heard from again!”
I won’t speak for your kids, but I don’t think it’s fair to say youth didn’t see him as white or black. I’m pretty sure they did, and that is almost certainly why youth got out and voted. If Obama were white, and his name was John McSmith, there is not a doubt in my mind youth would have stayed home in their usual large numbers come election time.
We might have elected a Democrat anyway, but the fierce passion around this election is certainly because Obama is black.
I disagree. I volunteered and voted for Obama because I agreed with his policies (pretty much a given, since he’s a Democrat), not because he’s black.