First Drafts - The Prospect magazine blog

PArty on

[Editor's Note: Dr. Rick Muir of the institute for public policy research has been volunteering in the crucial swing state of Pennsyvania, which last night was won comfortably by the Obama campaign. Later today we will post an inside account of the night in Chicago, from our essayist Erik Tarloff.]

Well, what a night.  I have witnessed many an election night in my time, but never anything like this.

It started rather anxiously. Having spent the whole day knocking on doors in central Philadelphia we returned to the city’s Obama campaign HQ to watch the results come in. People were nervous - the polls looked good, but the narrow losses of 2000 and 2004 are seared into the memories of Democratic activists here. That anxiety was punctured when MSBNC called our state, Pennsylvania, for Obama.  The place erupted into cheers, and chants of ‘Yes we can!’.  The British contingent - myself, and various politically minded friends who came across the pond with me to the US -  remained almost alone in our view that people should wait for at least some of the votes to be counted before declaring victory.  CNN also seemed to be taking a more cautious approach - when they declared we had won our own state here by a 10 point margin, we knew things were moving our way.  And when Ohio came through we knew it was over…..

Sensing victory, we headed to a nearby bar - and it was there that the announcement came through that Barack Obama had been elected President of the United States.  Even though this is what we had been working for relentlessly for weeks, the words on the screen seemed unreal, no one could quite believe what had happened.  The place exploded into whoops of joy - people came in off the street, strangers embracing strangers.

John McCain’s dignified concession speech was well received and applauded - the contrast with the negative way he conducted his campaign being stark.  Delirious cheers went up as the Obamas came on stage in Chicago.  And what a speech.  A friend next to me started crying, which set me off as well. As an African American the importance of this moment to her was obvious - and incredibly moving.

Outside a spontaneous street carnival kicked off on Broad Street, in front of City Hall.  Thousands of people, most of them young and African American, ran into the streets waving Obama banners and posters.  A group mounted a newspaper stand and led the crowd in chants of ‘O-BA-MA!” and ‘Yes we did!”  Cars started arriving from all over the city, beeping horns, waving Obama placards.  People got out and stood on top of them.  The only thing I can compare it to is a national sporting triumph - but I have never seen such a completely spontaneous mass celebration for a political event.  It felt like people had been liberated.  The pride that African Americans in particular feel in Obama’s election is intense - as one man said to me ‘now anything is possible, for anyone’.  This has been a long time coming.