Decision 2008

It's election night and within the last hour, the networks declared that Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States of America. I wonder if, years from now, John Patrick will read in history books at school about this historic night, when our great nation elected an African American president for the first time in history.

Just for fun, I drove down to the Mercy Lounge, where the local Democrats were holding an election party. I had a difficult time finding a parking place, because there were so many people at the party. As I waited in line to go inside, I struck up a conversation with an older, African American woman in front of me. She literally squealed with delight when I told her the networks had declared that the state of Virginia had gone Obama's way.

I only stayed at the party for five or ten minutes, because I just wanted to see firsthand the how excited the people there were. The crowd was very young and very diverse, which I expected. It was amazing to see such a diverse crowd celebrating together. It gives me hope that, perhaps, when all is said and done, Barack Obama may be able to unify our country after all.

Barack Obama and his family just walked onto the stage at Grant Park in Chicago, where he is going to give his acceptance. Over 100,000 people are in attendance there, which is incredible. I'm going to listen to him give what should be a historic speech.