Presidential Election Night 2008 in Northampton

Last night Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th president of the United States of America with a landslide victory over John McCain with 349 electoral votes vs. McCain's 156. Missouri's 27 electoral votes have yet to be decided, but either way it is a land slide victory for Obama. He is the first bi-racial and African American president of the U.S.A. ever.

I spent election night from 10:30 p.m. until 1 a.m. in downtown Northampton. My roommate Edy and I went to the Paradise City Tavern where we had to wait a good 10 minutes just to get inside. The crowd seemed upbeat but nervous until Obama had won. When Obama won the entire bar was screaming and cheering, many cried and hugged others. Many others bought more celebratory drinks as they awaited McCain's concession speech. They began playing Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" as soon as the win was announced.



After Obama's speech the bar played Nas and Lauryn Hill's "If I Ruled the World." As the night wore on, it all really started to hit me. I was living history, watching Colin Powell cry and villagers in Kenya rejoice in real time with those of us in the bar. I cried tears of joy while watching the footage and a fellow American next to me noticed, patted me on the back, and handed me a tissue. For the first time in my life I really felt connected to every person with me as an American, and I also felt the most proud that I had ever felt to be American. This night surely changed the entire world.

In the streets of Northampton after we left the bar, cars did victory laps around town honking as did bicyclists. Cops were out and watching as crowds started to form outside of Dirty Truth and La Veracruzana. It was pretty insane.



Every time I've thought about it today I've almost cried, tears are perpetually welling in my eyes.