President Elect Obama Barack

I'm almost crying as I write - and you all know how I am about crying. Look what happens when you vote, look what can be accomplished. We have change.

Today I had class. I went to the lecture part of the class, computer in hand and paid almost no attention to the teacher. I was staring at the screen the entire time flipping from cnn, to npr, to sacbee. At break I told my teacher "Hey, look. I have an A in the class (95% thank you). You know I'll learn the material. You know I am capable of teaching myself. Do you mind if I leave and go to an Obama viewing party?" Her answer was to tell me of course. Party hard for her (this is the teacher that pulled up the VP debate on her computer so I could watch it during break). So I ran out of there, jumped into the car, and headed off to the Radisson. I had to park in the Costco parking lot because all other parking was full. I ran to the hotel and walked in the ballroom right as they announced California's votes and pushed Obama over 270. He won. He really won. I was in a room with 1000s of other supporters. I yelled, I screamed, I jumped up and down. I hugged random people and smiled at many many others. Being at this party really makes me want to be a part of the political world. A good person can really create change.

What a night. What an accomplishment. What a great and wonderful win. Not just for me, or for African Americans, but for the whole country. Tonight we chose to follow Hope and not fear. We elected the first black man. We elected a strong, intelligent, thoughtful, caring, person. A person who can speak and make a good impression. A person who represents everything great about America. Tonight we have change.

This was not a hotly contested, close, day. He did not win by a state, or by two, but by practically a landslide (and thankfully, he didn't call it a mandate). As I write, Obama has 349 and McCain has 159 with 47 states reporting. That's more then double the amount of electoral votes. He has more than 6,000,000 more of the popular vote. No recounts necessary, no question of the outcome. Tonight we voted for change.

In my opinion, this was the most important election in my life, so thank you. Thanks to everyone who voted, contributed, helped, and pushed. Thank you for helping to elect the future of America. Thank you for believing it was possible. Thanks for proving our society isn't beyond fighting for. Thanks for change.