Grant Park and History
I would describe what it was like to be in Grant Park, especially at 10 PM CST when my home state, California, put Obama over the top, but I really can’t. It was, literally, one million people who have been dispairing at the state of our political system for eight years who have invested so much in not only rejecting the ideas that animated that dark period, but even more in the man that’s supposed to lead us out of it. Even though we really knew the result when Pennsylvania and Ohio were projected for Obama, there was such utter jubiliation when CNN finally said that Obama was going to be in the next president. The crowd was also amazing, a true microcosm of the Obama coalition. Tons of college students of all races, lots of vaguely hipster looking middle aged people and blacks of all ages. And they were all going bananas. Obama’s speech itself was something of a letdown for many in the crowd. We had simply been too excited for too long, and after five or hours of standing. But there were those screaming “YES” after nearly every line, and plenty of people crying. I, for one, was mostly silent and let the moment wash over me. As lame and cheezy as this sounds, being in Grant Park is something that I’ll be talking about to anyone that wants to hear it – and even those who don’t – for as long as I’m alive. How many people can say that they saw history? I certainly can.
