Organic Election Night '08

History. Historic. Momentous.
Can we really capture election ’08 with words? A 21 month emotional roller coaster of drama and intrigue; of revived candidacies and the reinvention of campaigning - all on display at such a pivotal moment in our nation’s history? As a television journalist based in Washington, DC, I was both observer and participant for the campaigns. My vantage point – a glossy studio; outfitted with shiny lips, big hair; surrounded by and often consulting analytical egos. But on election night for the Associated Press, American voters drove the story line.

The format: a live Internet broadcast. 5 hours uninterrupted. Myself. A cohost. A handful of respected political analysts. But the stars: 10 diverse and passionate voters from all across the country.

And they gave this historic moment the warmth and humanity that we and viewers could not have experienced any other way. Let me show you what I mean.

In one evening, I saw the personal cost of a contentious political campaign in the mother who’s daughter was so passionate about electing Senator Barack Obama she threatened to disown her mother if she voted for Senator John McCain. The two had become somewhat estranged during the campaign. This mother had remained undecided until the day before her absentee ballot was due, even tearing up the first draft and picking up a second.

I experienced the Republican anger and uncompromising candor of the Texas man who peppered our Republican strategist with questions about how the party that was ‘supposed to own’ the economy as a political issue, lost its way. That question eventually made its way to Senator John McCain’s senior economic strategist – Douglas Holtz Eakin.

I witnessed the military mom’s passion for supporting a former POW in the White House succumb to the economic concerns of other voters….showing in stark relief how much the electorate itself switched its focus from the War in Iraq to energy costs to economic survival during the campaign.

I observed the purple state split between Virginia voters. One holding loosely to the red-state promises of lower taxes and conservative family values. The other, convinced by rising energy costs and a teetering economy that this country did indeed ‘need change’ and what better face for it than a man who is both black and white.

Then it came time to call the races for each major state. First Pennsylvania. Then Ohio. Then Florida. Then Virginia. And finally, the winner. I watched, as we not only shared information, but emotion.

All the while, two African American women were turning from strangers into sisters, holding hands in solidarity as they watched a black man beat a white man in a free and fair American election.
One of those women – a 70 year old brought up in a segregated south - recalled black and white water fountains, separate school buses, and discrimination. She literally beamed at the progress this country demonstrated on November 4, 2008.
The other woman – a 40-year-old computer programmer and pastor – began to weep as we announced Barack Obama – the next president of the United States, the meaning of the moment sweeping over her like a tidal wave.

And in those final moments, a small business owner who’d vocally advocated for John McCain, believing a Democratic president would guarantee him higher taxes and threaten his family’s livelihood, graciously congratulated those who supported President-elect Barack Obama. He disagreed with the outcome, he said, but he was proud that America had elected its first African American president.

As a journalist. As an American. As a human being, it was truly a proud moment, and it didn’t come from strategy, quotable quips, or brilliant political analysis. It came from the hearts and minds of passionate, engaged, involved American voters.

That’s democracy. That’s history. That’s transparency. That…..is cool.