Okay, I started working on the Obama campaign since before the Pennsylvania primary; for the last couple of months I manned the front desk of the local headquarters every Monday night. Some days I felt like there was no way he could lose; other days I was not at all sure. But this "project" has been part of my life since the beginning of the year. I went to a rally in Wilmington in February and that sealed the deal. Since then, I was fixated on the idea that this man could deliver us from the embarrassment of the last eight years.
At the same time, I found myself thoroughly engaged with the Phillies, and the tension on both fronts grew until it was almost unbearable.
My evenings were monopolized by MSNBC and Comcast - my late nights by The Daily Show and Baseball Tonight. I was grateful to have two manias - if one got too intense, I'd just switch to the other.
When the Phillies finally popped the cork the 4th time (clinching Eastern division, beating the Brewers, winning the NLCS and, finally the World Series) this fall, I was, naturally, thrilled. But I found I was somewhat detached - I knew that the OTHER thing was a whole lot more important. I kept being insanely happy - watched all the post-game stuff and read the newspaper accounts - but at the same time felt that the anxiety had not dissipated. I spent the following weekend (post-Series, pre-election) with Paige, Brian, and Lea, and we all were kind of on edge - tap, tap, tapping on three different laptops. We kept looking at polls and blogs and sites and you name it.
I drove the seven and a half hours home from Virginia and couldn't bring myself to turn on the radio, since just about you can get along I-81 is AM conservative talk shows. So I listened to CDs. I got home and watched the SNL Prime Time special and found myself unnaturally annoyed by the protracted Amy Poehler take off of Hillary Clinton and, especially, the REAL Sarah Palin's appearance in which she threatened to revoke NBC's license when she became Vice President. She was supposed to be joking, but I swear she looked and sounded like she thought she could actually do it!
Tuesday morning I went to the polls early - 6:45 - and waited in line for about 40 minutes. I started freaking out a little at the prospect that it might rain and discourage people from voting. I worked all day and avoided the media, and then reported to the staging area to do last minute canvassing. I was sent to a townhome community to encourage supporters to vote and ran into several people just coming home from the polls. The excitement was amazing! I finished my assignment and chose to go home to wait it out, rather than hang around the office. But I couldn't just sit and watch returns, so I did my usual 7:00
Scrubs reruns. I kept switching back and forth and finally homed in on MSNBC and, later, Comedy Central. Once Pennsylvania, then Virginia, then Ohio went in the Obama column, I felt confident. And when they announced that he had won, I let out breath that I had apparently been holding for several months. I felt like the country now had a chance to redeem itself.
And you know something else? Wednesday morning I also had resurgence of Phillies euphoria and re-read the stories without the angst of the election and IT WAS FUN!
Now the work REALLY begins. The promises need to be addressed and it won't be easy.
But I feel GREAT!
