Yes, we can...make history. Obama wins.

November 4th, 2008 will be known to history as the day Americans woke up from a dark, greedy, ignorant, aggressive, selfish, destructive, war loving and uneducated view of the world to a time of moderation, unity, intelligence, diversity and yes, major change.

As I walked down the street, shortly after the announcement that the African American Barack Hussein Obama (yes, even with a name like that) had been elected president of the United States, restaurants and bars exploded with cheer, people screamed Obama and honked their horns on the streets. Millions country wide felt a need to gather in public places and filled Times Square, national parks and surrounded the White House.
One stranger looked at me after I screamed Obama and said, "I am walking to Times Square. Who's with me?" And about 200,000 were there that night, with him. People of all races, all faiths, all social economic status were there to prove that what had separated us for so long had begun to finally crumble, not just in theory, but in a presidential election. Complete strangers gave me high fives when they recognized that my smile mirrored their own relief. And oh, so many of us cried tears of joy at the knowledge that a new era had begun, and that it had been brought about by people who had finally united to say ENOUGH...

Sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom for a revolution to happen and we'd been on the bottom for a while now. So now that the air feels lighter, and the world seems to once again be celebrating something American, what has really changed?

The basics are obvious. Obama has built his campaign on reform of the economy, so it benefits people, not large corporations. On health care reform, so people won’t die from lack of treatment in a country as rich as this one. On immigration reform, so those who are working the hardest jobs in this country will have a chance to do so legally and contribute with taxes. On international reform, so the rest of the world stops fearing that the USA will continue to bully smaller countries to take their resources and attack without provocation, which should bring more stability and less aggressive behavior against America, as well as reducing the number of unnecessary deaths of young American people who have been sent abroad under false pretenses. And also on the constitutional values that we are all created equal and should have the same rights, no matter what your race, religion or sexual preference.

It is also all about small, but major steps. It started early in the day, with the excitement brewing just beneath the surface, when I heard a teenage African American girl talking to a friend and saying "I think I could be a good politician. I care about injustices and my teacher says I am a really good debater."
That seems like a simple small comment, but embedded in it is the transition from the victimized, angry position which some African Americans have found themselves, to the knowledge that.. "Yes, you can.", and if you think the color of your skin is the reason not to try, look at your president. For once, the example African American youth will see are not drug dealers on tv shows and video games and rappers with women shaking their bodies to them and giant diamond jewelry with references to violence and crime, but a Harvard educated, gracious and centered minded man, who has at his side an equally educated, intelligent and independent woman. A man who cares about his family and who happens to have become the president of the United States, against all odds. Her comment also shows another change, the thought that politicians can be there to HELP people. Something we haven't seen in about 8 years.

Talking to another teenage friend, one who had traveled, called and knocked on doors during this campaign, I was moved by one of her comments. She said “In all of my life, this is the first time I have something good I can tell my children I've been part of. So far it has only been tragedies... Bush president, 9/11, wars, Tsunami, Katrina... This is the happiest thing I've ever been a part of." She is one of many teenagers I know who traveled from NYC to Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, not because their parents went, but because they wanted their voices heard, even if they couldn't vote. And their voices were loud, determined and demanding a better future. Young people made this election a success because they haven't learned to be cynical and hopeless yet. Now there is hope that they never will.

So here we are. In the same country that "elected" Bush for the second time only four years ago, with an African American president with a weird name. With young people participating in politics and people celebrating a new elected president with complete strangers.

As a poster seen on tv from the coverage in Chicago said:
“Hold on people. Help is on the way. Obama is president...”



The numbers are below:
By winning 52 percent of the popular vote, Barack Obama joined the ranks of FDR and LBJ in being the only Democratic presidents to get more than 51 percent of the popular vote in the past 100 years.
52.3% of the popular vote to McCain's 46.2%
349 of the electoral votes, to McCain's 159
18% of the voters were aged 18-29. 66% of them voted for Obama
1 in 10 voters were voting for the first time.
13% of the voters were African American. 96% of them voted for Obama.
77% of the Jewish vote
%55 percent of young white voters supported Obama. No Democratic president in history has won more than 45% of young white.
67% of the Hispanic vote