A NEW DAY!

I have never been more excited, more proud, more hopeful or more connected to the world than I was tonight watching the American Presidential Elections. I couldn’t watch at first, traumatized as I still was by Kerry’s crushing loss four years ago, I was genuinely afraid that history would repeat itself, that all the rednecks and the staunch republicans with all their money and clout and connections would once again rise up and vote in yet another Republican President. I was afraid that the change the Americans sought for wouldn’t happen, that “hope” in and of itself was just a pipe dream. And so I avoided as long as I could. And when I turned the TV on to see the words “OBAMA ELECTED PRESIDENT” and watched his speech and saw the looks on the faces of Americans and frantically sent text messages to friends and family and changed my status on Facebook, I wept with joy and cheered and whooped and hooted and hollered. I danced, I laughed, I cried, I hugged my friend. We drank wine and talked about civil rights and Kanye West and black Americans and the future and what this will mean for the next generation. And then I saw martin Luther’s King “I Have A Dream” speech, and my eyes welled with the completion of this full-circle moment. And if the question is every asked of me, “What were you doing when Obama became President-Elect,” I will always remember.

Today is a new beginning. And I know that Proposition 8 may not pass in California, I know the economy is in the toilet, I know that the US is at war. But there is a Democrat-Elect who is ready, willing and able to face the problems and revolutionize democracy. I know that speaking in absolutes can only set me up for failure and disappointment, but honestly, there is no way that I could feel any less disappointed in democracy and the US government than I have in the last eight years. So for once, I, Karen Rowe, cynic-at-heart am going to go all Pollyanna on your asses and hope for the best.

And the one thing I felt that resounded most with me was an overwhelming feeling that I was sharing my joy with all of humanity. I know I wasn't of course. I recognize that 50 million people still voted for McCain. But across this country and theirs, across Europe and all over the world, people were rejoicing. And it felt great.

.