a not so special night

which might be the most special thing of all about this election.

Of course, for Richard and I and the rest of the world it was a most special night. My French cousin reports that " One radio commentator this morning said that we were back in the 60's, when everything was possible, and that nobody could hate this kind of America"

My 2 boys are interested in politics and definitely in the Obama camp. They may be glad to be rid of Bush, but the didn't seem to fullly process the historic significance of it. They were a bit subdued. Jimmy asked repeatedly if we could take a break from the coverage to watch The Simpson's Treehouse of Horrors. They took Obama's victory in stride, as if it were the most natural thing in the world that if a person was smart enough, ran a good enough campaign and faced a weak enough opponent then naturally they would be elected.

with tears in her eyes

I somehow manage to have obtained a reputation as a "cool as a cucumber", rational kind of person. But when I stood before my soon to be obsolete touch screen voting machine to cast my vote I found myself fighting back tears. So many things have happened to inspire cynicism and apathy in the past few years. I was especially motivated to vote against the amendment on the ballot to allow slot machines. I find it utterly appaling that our Democratic County Executive, Lieutenant Governor and Governor all made robocalls on its behalf. (why don't we just legalize heroin as well and tax the proceeds "for our children's education"?)

And yet, it's profoundly moving to be able contemplate a ballot featuring an African American man and a woman on it. My French cousin tells me that in France there's "TV coverage planned for all of election night on several French channels, anchorpersons in NYC and Washington, polls being conducted (“if you could vote in the US election, who would you vote for?”), etc!" The eyes of the world truly are on us. It's beyond gratifying to think that it is likely that we can return to being a source of respect and inspiration for the rest of the world.