Rick would like you all to know that he was calling an Obama landslide three days ago. I would like you to know that I was making him knock on wood every time he said it.

I was cautious about this election. After getting kicked in the teeth the past two elections, I was skeptical that we wouldn’t see a third stolen election. I made nervous jokes yesterday that it was going to be historic one way or another: either we would have our first black President or we would have a country that was rioting because a third election had been stolen. I knew Barack Obama has what it takes, I’ve been saying it since before the primaries. And I knew the polling numbers were high, but I can’t trust numbers entirely. What I didn’t trust was that certain people in power wouldn’t try to steal another one. My faith in Barack was complete. My faith in the system, in tatters.

But last night, seeing first Pennsylvania go blue (yay for those calls I made to PA from the phonebank on Sunday!), and then Ohio (yay for the calls I made to OH last week!)…I knew something was happening. I felt hope surging through me like electricity. I turned to Lori, who is from Ohio, and said “Oh, look at the TV! Your state is BLUE!!!” and we went nuts. I left the party I was at shortly thereafter and went to the Upper West Side to watch the end of the night with Rick and the girls. We had sent the Youngest to bed shortly before 11, but the Oldest and one of her friends were watching TV with us at 11 when the polls on the West Coast closed. At first we all misread the title on MSNBC, and I remember saying “He’s the projected winner of what? Which state?” and then Rick said “He’s the projected winner of the ELECTION.” All hell broke lose, and we ran out onto the balcony to hear the sounds of New York City going nuts around us. Cheers, screams, horns honking, pots and pans banging together, and we were screaming right back at everyone.

The calls started pouring in then, and in the middle of it I saw a shot of Jesse Jackson crying and thought about how much this must mean to him. I heard a black man say that now he can tell his son that the boy could grow up to be President and not be lying anymore. And when Jordana called, I burst into tears because I thought of Samang, our little girl who is half white American and half black African, just like Barack. Jordana put the baby on the phone, and with tears streaming down my face I said “Little girl, you’re not going to remember it, but this is an important night. You can grow up to be President if you want to. You can do anything.”

This morning, I woke up with a smile on my face. There is work ahead of us. A lot of work. And I think you could see that realization in Obama’s smile last night. But I’m hopeful again. After eight years, the nightmare of Dubya is almost over, and we’ve got a smart, caring, thoughtful man as our future president. I hope he knows that his volunteer “army” as the press calls us, is still out here for him. Supporting him, and ready for him to tell us what to do next. Because this campaign has taught us that we can be an active part of this government, that our voices will be heard, and I think we all want to continue in that great work. We’re waiting, President Obama. Just let us know what you need.

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