By Alvin Singh
**This commentary was written on paper on November 4th in between flights from Seattle to New York City since I was not able to get to a computer**
Midway into my flight from Seattle to New York City I stopped in Chicago for a layover. While sitting at a terminal pub I watched Fox News at 7-7:30 pm Midwest time and the results showed John McCain with 39 electoral votes and Senator Obama with 103. Senator McCain won my home state of Tennessee according to Fox with 63% and Obama with 33% and I was not surprised. Neighboring state Kentucky was also colored on the screen as red signaling that McCain won 57% to Obama’s 41% electoral votes.
Before I caught the next flight they showed both campaign’s victory parties and it was interesting to see that McCain’s campaign had rented a hotel conference room that was not filled yet at 5:00 pm western time. On the other hand they showed a crowd of thousands of people in downtown Chicago waiting for the Obama campaign to set up. Now I have to catch my flight…… stay tuned.
Once I landed in Long Island New York at 10:55 pm the electoral vote was no close call like 2000 or 2004 elections. The predictions were already calling Obama the winner without even the count form states like Oregon, Washington, and California.
By the time we got into a taxi, I was listening to John McCain give his concession speech on WCBS radio. He spoke about how “a century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.” He displayed a classy character of a man who once imprisoned and projected a sense of respect for the accomplishment that Obama had achieved.
Then just as the taxi driver arrived into the island of Manhattan we listened to the first African American President elect Barack Obama give his speech on becoming he leader that America democratically chosen. He spoke about a woman who was 106 years old and voted bringing a emotional tone to the moment.
Hearing a speech via radio and in a taxi is a calming feeling because one I was not driving and two it allows the listener to actually hear the words being spoken rather than seeing the visual set up that the speaker or media wants you to see first. I was shocked that at 12 pm he was giving a victory speech already and that the radio announcers were declaring a winner so soon.
The CBS radio broadcaster made a statement that Americans voted for the color green since this election was in the midst of economic turmoil and wall street distrust. The people of America were concerned about their jobs and how they could save money more so about electing a “black” president.
I took a walk to Times Square and thought it was New Years eve, the crowds were jumping up and down and the huge bright TV screens were showing images of Barack Obama and him waving from a podium with his family. Cars were honking the horns and people walked around cheering and sporting t shirts, buttons, hats, cardboard box cut outs, and waving campaign posters that that read Obama-Biden.
This 2008 election is no doubt one that will go into the history books as one that involved controversy and inspiration. The highest voter turnout, most money raised by a candidate ever, and the first minority American to the Presidential election.
In the topic of digital democracy I received countless text messages and emails to my phone all night. Since I was on the streets of New York City, I was not able to check the Twitter feeds or read any political blogs. I was entrapped in the moment of personal interaction and took photos of the crowds that were screaming “yes we can” or “ yes we did”.
Then the very next morning the New York Times headlines read “Obama makes history” and every stand was selling out quicker than normal. Since we had a interview at 10:00 am I decided to bypass buying the morning paper which is very unusual for me to do when out of town. When we completed by lunchtime I checked my messages only to hear request from family and friends to buy a copy of the newspapers since reports were saying they were sold out everywhere. On my way to catch a train to Washington DC, I noticed that all the New York Times special edition were sold out at every Hudson News stand in Penn Station. I read my Twitter feeds from my cell phone and witnessed comments from a broad range of topics about the election night and how people were requesting copies of the next day’s front page newspapers.
The final results were so far from when I first landing halfway into my trip with a total of 349 electoral votes for Barack Obama and 162 for John McCain, according to the New York Times. Missouri and North Carolina were not yet counted but the winner was decided. After all the debates, negative attack ads, long primary, political conventions and anxious voters America finally decided who they want as their next Commander-in-Chief. Now the real work begins as we are still faced with a financial crisis, job loss and two major wars, let’s see if their will be any CHANGE.
To learn more about the Transition Project check out www.Change.gov
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Election Night On An Airplane
Posted by: alvins456 on: 12 November 2008
By Alvin Singh
**This commentary was written on paper on November 4th in between flights from Seattle to New York City since I was not able to get to a computer**
Midway into my flight from Seattle to New York City I stopped in Chicago for a layover. While sitting at a terminal pub I watched Fox News at 7-7:30 pm Midwest time and the results showed John McCain with 39 electoral votes and Senator Obama with 103. Senator McCain won my home state of Tennessee according to Fox with 63% and Obama with 33% and I was not surprised. Neighboring state Kentucky was also colored on the screen as red signaling that McCain won 57% to Obama’s 41% electoral votes.
Before I caught the next flight they showed both campaign’s victory parties and it was interesting to see that McCain’s campaign had rented a hotel conference room that was not filled yet at 5:00 pm western time. On the other hand they showed a crowd of thousands of people in downtown Chicago waiting for the Obama campaign to set up. Now I have to catch my flight…… stay tuned.
Once I landed in Long Island New York at 10:55 pm the electoral vote was no close call like 2000 or 2004 elections. The predictions were already calling Obama the winner without even the count form states like Oregon, Washington, and California.
By the time we got into a taxi, I was listening to John McCain give his concession speech on WCBS radio. He spoke about how “a century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.” He displayed a classy character of a man who once imprisoned and projected a sense of respect for the accomplishment that Obama had achieved.
Then just as the taxi driver arrived into the island of Manhattan we listened to the first African American President elect Barack Obama give his speech on becoming he leader that America democratically chosen. He spoke about a woman who was 106 years old and voted bringing a emotional tone to the moment.
Hearing a speech via radio and in a taxi is a calming feeling because one I was not driving and two it allows the listener to actually hear the words being spoken rather than seeing the visual set up that the speaker or media wants you to see first. I was shocked that at 12 pm he was giving a victory speech already and that the radio announcers were declaring a winner so soon.
The CBS radio broadcaster made a statement that Americans voted for the color green since this election was in the midst of economic turmoil and wall street distrust. The people of America were concerned about their jobs and how they could save money more so about electing a “black” president.
I took a walk to Times Square and thought it was New Years eve, the crowds were jumping up and down and the huge bright TV screens were showing images of Barack Obama and him waving from a podium with his family. Cars were honking the horns and people walked around cheering and sporting t shirts, buttons, hats, cardboard box cut outs, and waving campaign posters that that read Obama-Biden.
This 2008 election is no doubt one that will go into the history books as one that involved controversy and inspiration. The highest voter turnout, most money raised by a candidate ever, and the first minority American to the Presidential election.
In the topic of digital democracy I received countless text messages and emails to my phone all night. Since I was on the streets of New York City, I was not able to check the Twitter feeds or read any political blogs. I was entrapped in the moment of personal interaction and took photos of the crowds that were screaming “yes we can” or “ yes we did”.
Then the very next morning the New York Times headlines read “Obama makes history” and every stand was selling out quicker than normal. Since we had a interview at 10:00 am I decided to bypass buying the morning paper which is very unusual for me to do when out of town. When we completed by lunchtime I checked my messages only to hear request from family and friends to buy a copy of the newspapers since reports were saying they were sold out everywhere. On my way to catch a train to Washington DC, I noticed that all the New York Times special edition were sold out at every Hudson News stand in Penn Station. I read my Twitter feeds from my cell phone and witnessed comments from a broad range of topics about the election night and how people were requesting copies of the next day’s front page newspapers.
The final results were so far from when I first landing halfway into my trip with a total of 349 electoral votes for Barack Obama and 162 for John McCain, according to the New York Times. Missouri and North Carolina were not yet counted but the winner was decided. After all the debates, negative attack ads, long primary, political conventions and anxious voters America finally decided who they want as their next Commander-in-Chief. Now the real work begins as we are still faced with a financial crisis, job loss and two major wars, let’s see if their will be any CHANGE.
To learn more about the Transition Project check out www.Change.gov
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