The high-flying rhetoric of Barack Obama coasted into Chicago, Illinois on Election Night with thousands (if not over a million supporters) lining up from 11 am to 8 pm CT to get into the Obama rally where many expected he would give his victory speech.

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The high-flying rhetoric of Barack Obama coasted into Chicago, Illinois on Election Night with thousands (if not over a million supporters) lining up from 11 am to 8 pm CT to get into the Obama rally where many expected he would give his victory speech.

I, myself, was detached from hope and change, as defined by the Obama campaign thus far. But, I would not miss the opportunity to see this election to its end as I had been following it since the summer of 2007.

When there was word that a rally would be held at Grant Park in Chicago, tickets from the Obama campaign were sent to me, an “Illinois supporter.” Being on his email list, I capitalized off it and signed up for a ticket.

In the election’s final days, it became widely evident that John McCain hadn’t a chance in hell of pulling this one out. It would be a landslide and not just that. It would be a historic landslide that millions of people had helped create. 

I woke up on Election Day full of anticipation. But, I had to first drag myself to a class in the morning.

On the way home, I could feel the energy. There was something about it. It felt like Christmas---like the American people were going to get a big present.

I spent the afternoon indecisively wandering the Internet scanning for updates on polling place fiascos. And, I turned on MSNBC to hear McCain declare in a final rally that the “pundits were wrong. The Mac is back.” It gave me a good laugh.

MSNBC said this was “vintage McCain.” As I think back to that moment, I think McCain knew he had lost the election then so he went back to his roots. But, continuing…

I closely monitored the streets wondering when I should go down there and go in to meet a couple of good friends from college. And, as 4 pm CT came, it was time to go head on in to the Obama rally because more and more people were arriving.

Getting into the rally was a long and arduous process like the election itself. It took hours to get to the park area where the rally was held.

Closed roads, barriers, police, secret service, metal detectors, and regulations for attendees were in place to make certain Obama’s event would go off well.

I showed my ID and ticket and headed in where I was corralled into a crowd that hung still for a good amount of time before being let go to a next checkpoint.

That crowd hung still for a good amount of time before being let go to the metal detector checkpoin

After two hours of standing and talking with Obama supporters who were finding the Kentucky win for McCain to be insignificant, I finally made it in.

I will never forget how in line people had doubt at that moment. There was fear. And for a movement behind hope and change, that speaks volumes about the trauma this nation had gone through over the past eight years.

Standing in Grant Park with my dear friends, I gathered with others to view the election results as they were reported on by CNN. We laughed, we cheered, we applauded, and we danced during the commercial breaks when the rally played music for attendees to dance to.

The turning point came when Pennsylvania was declared an Obama win. At that point, we were all waiting for the inevitable McCain concession speech.

The states kept coming in. CNN’s John King did a “what-if” scenario that clearly showed McCain could not do it. (He also humored many by doing a “what-if” scenario to see if Democrats could get 60 seats in the Senate.)

The crowd was enthralled and yet at many times they were tired and just ready for the night to end. Anxiety was abundant at times.

When NBC predicted Obama’s win and then CNN followed, well, you can bet people were floored. The crowd let off a roar of cheering that rumbled throughout the masses gathered at Grant Park.

“Yes we did. Yes we did.”

So far, the crowd had not shown that they were aware of the issues that had brought us all together to a point where we wanted to see Obama succeed in winning the presidency. But, one lady said it best, “Yes we did. But we’ve got a lot of work to do now too.”

In the midst of all the cheering and happiness, this was a breath of fresh air for a world that was becoming more and more like a fantasy as the night wore on.

To see all the people from all over the world gathered to watch the election results meant that this was something more than just another American election. This was possibly one last chance for America to redeem itself before the world became aggressive and rejecting of a nation constantly claiming to be “the greatest nation on Earth.”

McCain’s concession speech was a shining moment of the night for me. I do not know why but as I watched him on the screen, I was feeling an emotional tug inside. There was something genuine about what McCain was saying to the people in front of him that was touching and profound.

Why a warmongering war hero who wanted to lead the empire was making me emotional, I don’t know. But, I felt like McCain was admitting a lot about the past few months that he had tried to ignore so that he could maybe possibly win.

One would think an Obama victory speech would have immediately followed, but perhaps, we had to give the pundits time to slice and dice the McCain concession speech. So, Obama had a religious figurehead come out to lead us in prayer and then he had a veteran come out to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

It’s funny how hope and change still had to answer to those who fear anti-Americanism even after winning, and it’s funny how Obama claimed throughout the election that he did not have to take a God or patriotism test yet he often did. 

Obama did it at the Democratic National Convention to a crowd roaring loudly as they waved American flags rapidly in the air. And he did it again on Election Night to a crowd roaring loudly as they waved flags rapidly in the air.

Such situations throughout his campaign that had hints of nationalism and theocracy mixed with populism were and should be worrisome because of the fact that Obama’s power to unite the people could be directed and aimed towards whatever objective or goal the powers that be desire. 

For the most part though, it appeared that supporters had no idea they were creating an atmosphere that any good imperialist would love to walk in. 

Obama’s victory speech wasn’t so much an eloquent speech as it was a chance for the crowd to release and realize a reality. The reality was that a dark era was over and if what CNN pundits said were right, the Bush years had been “repudiated.”

The text of his speech can be found on the Internet and I suspect I will revisit it at a later time when it is necessary to look at what was said and reflect. But, this campaign, unfortunately, hinged upon emotions. So, despite the fact that critical issues may have been hinted at, what mattered was the sense of relief people were feeling as they realized there was hope for America after all.

Few supporters there ever talked about "the issues" or policies Obama might employ in the future so tonight it didn't matter what Obama would do. The future to people there could be anything now that Obama was elected.

The night came to an end in Grant Park and Obama waved to the crowd and left the stage as America’s new president-elect. I slowly headed out in the throng of supporters who each had a T-shirt, button, etc. with Obama and/or Biden on it.

Throughout the evening and night, press swarmed all over the crowd catching every moment that showed some kind of frenetic energy. This continued after Obama left the stage. 

What happened in Grant Park was one thing, but what I saw outside of Grant Park on Michigan Ave was another. Rampant commercialism and police on horses greeted me as I turned out of the park and onto the street to head home for the night.

Every other person it seemed had a hat, a button, or a shirt to sell. Sometimes people had watches or photos to sell. And sometimes, people had some kind of cheap massively produced piece of art for you to have to remember this moment forever.

Whatever it was, I didn’t want it and yet I felt like I should buy it for the fact that this was history. I wanted to get dozens of everything for family and for friends as gifts and to have for the future when I tell my children and grandchildren I was in Grant Park on Election Day.

I looked back at the police on horse ready to mobilize if necessary and remembered being at the DNC and RNC and seeing so-called rights suppressed and unfairly regulated.

All these people who voted for Obama made me wonder---what will they do next? Will they be organizing as citizens to get the change they believed in or will they go home and continue to be bought of by gizmos and gadgets?

Will they have creativity and imagination and high expectations for the future?

Will they have the courage to stand up for what the people deserve even when Obama says “no”?

Will they organize outside the system and build off their organization within the system?

Will they truly adopt the belief that anything is possible because Obama won?

I know that class and race still present many barriers, but if the African-American in power thinks cynicism should be replaced by hope and we should work for whatever we believe in because anything is possible, than perhaps we should heed his words.

Single-payer health care, a worker’s bill of rights, a repeal of the PATRIOT Act and its expansions, a reassessment of our debt-based money system and no more bailouts for Wall Street, a crackdown on corporate crime and corporate welfare, a massive cut in the bloated military budget, a reverse of our current illegal and reckless foreign policy which would bring an end to wars in the Middle East, clean energy, election reform, a living wage, etc. should all be fought for despite the fact that centrist Democrats and Obama may oppose achieving these goals.

Bush and Cheney should be impeached and prosecuted for a laundry list of crimes they committed, which resulted in the utter destruction of the rule of law from 2000-2008.

If Obama could point to the people tonight and say that we elected him, than we must realize the power we hold and use it. We must exercise our leverage on government to get the policies we need---the change we need as he put it throughout this election.

I voted for Nader/Gonzalez and I stand by my vote. But, I will not simply congratulate Barack Obama on a truly historic upward career move despite the fact that he largely ignored class and race and militarism and religion. 

I will acknowledge that the paradigm for those wishing to become public citizens has shifted greatly and will now spark optimism and idealism in youth all over America.

I now look to the American people who said we had to wait until the election is over and then we could go to work and say to them, “Okay now, let’s go to work.”

The battle has just begun. A new administration is going to be in Washington come January but the corporations and special interests will still be pulling the strings.

This two-party system will either prove itself to be a disastrous wreck, or our people power will show that maybe something can be squeezed out of it after all. 

So let’s get to work and shift the power from the few to the many.

Authors Bio:
Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof Press. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, "Unauthorized Disclosure." He was an editor for OpEdNews.com