I unlocked the door to my apartment, to sit in front of the television. I was just in time to hear Senator McCain deliver a thoroughly gracious concession speech. What struck me was that if he had conducted his campaign, if he had been the person during the campaign that was delivering that speech, he might have won. In fact, if he had been the temperate person through his campaign who was delivering that speech, rather than the flitting here, then there, and imposing on everyone the most detestable of smearing tactics and outright lies, I might not . . . Yeah, I still wanted all of it, every last crumb and sentiment that had dominated the Republican Party and all its supporters for the past nearly one and one-half decades over. It was still his best speech.
Then . . . then stepped to his podium in Chicago’s Grant Park, President-Elect Obama! Oh my sweet Lord, what an extraordinarily beautiful thing it was to at last, at last, to see. The multitude, white, black brown, young and not at all young, except in heart, Latinos and Hispanics and Asians, straight, gay, in between, celebrities and the struggling common folk, all with unleashed tears of unrestrained joy! They, AMERICANS! Every single one. Then the televised shots from around the globe . . . AMERICA WAS BACK!!!!! AMERICA WAS BACK!!!!! AMERICA WAS BACK!!!!!
Even now, as I write this, my eyes are damp. Tears are trickling down my cheek. It’s over. It’s over. At last it’s over. AMERICA IS BACK.
Tuesday night, November 4, 2008: I will never forget it. Not for the rest of my life. If I had to speculate, I’d speculate that I had a couple thousand pages of data, of referenced material, of posted submission to the Internet in each of two computer folders, one marked “Political,” and the other marked “All About McCain.” After I turned on the television, I turned on my computer . . . thirteen years: “Are you sure you want to remove the folder ‘Political,’ and move all its contents to the recycling bin?” You’re goddamned right I do! CLICK.
Those folders are gone. And, as soon as I send this, it’ll just as ceremoniously also be deleted. As I said, “AMERICA IS BACK.” And I have never felt so good about anything.
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