Election Day on the Magnificent Mile

Getting off the el train at the Jackson stop in Chicago, I looked around to see a Chicago that resembled July 3^rd-right before the fireworks at the Taste of Chicago. Only this time, America was getting a new kind of independence, and it was Election Day on November 4^th. Vendors announced their products on each block, selling Barack Obama knit caps; Michelle Obama First Lady buttons; t-shirts with Joe Biden or the Obama family; handheld Obama fans; and of course Barack Obama by himself on every imaginable piece of cloth.

I was lucky enough to get a press pass from my employer to check out Grant Park before Barack Obama graced the audience with his presence that night. I still had doubts in my mind that Barack Obama would win the presidential election, but walking over a mile from Jackson to Roosevelt got me a little charged. I'd already lost all hope in 2004, but the energy on the Magnificent Mile was contagious. I looked around at hundreds of white, black, Asian, and Latino people competing with me for most Obama gear.

As a media representative, I know I wasn't supposed to be wearing the attire I had on, but this Election Day was far more important to me than the whole "unbiased media" persona. I rocked a Barack Obama and Joe Biden t-shirt with three buttons lined on my left-hand sleeve (a pink one of Michelle Obama as the First Lady; a black, gray, and white button with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama saying "Legacy of Hope"; and a red, white, and blue button with Obama saying "Vote 2008"). My ensemble may not have been appropriate for a press event, but it sure got some nice attention earlier that day-my dealership rushed to get my car washed, a lady in line gave me a 10% off coupon at the grocery store after complimenting my shirt, and a mother and daughter stopped me in line to check out my buttons and say they "hope" for the best too. I went to an electronics store and a guy asked me out after seeing my outfit. Talk about a stroke of luck, even though I knew luck and hope weren't necessarily going to make Obama win. Votes would, and I'd voted in the Early Election on October 14th.

But I digress. After walking past at least five gates and showing my press pass to every Secret Service agent or police officer around, I was finally allowed into the stage and media area. Reporters, videographers, and photographers scattered all over, some laying down to catch a nap before the big event while others fidgeted with equipment or wrote things down on notebooks.

The park stage was decked out in red, white, and blue flags, and I marveled at the thought that Obama would be there soon. I heard Chicago deejay Tom Joyner had just snuck into the V.I.P. tent at the same time that I was snapping photos of author Michael Eric Dyson. Obama may not have wanted the Grant Park appearance to be a celebrity event, but celebrities were people who wanted change too.

Unfortunately, I had to head back to the newsroom to update my employer's website so I wouldn't be able to see Obama live. Almost five hours later, I was checking different websites to catch the latest news and saw an image of Barack Obama as the winner of the debate. Barack Obama? The first black president and 44^th president? No. Couldn't be. I heard cheering from the seventeenth floor of my employer's building, but I just figured they were happy to be a part of the event. But when I got downstairs, I knew it was true. Hundreds of people were dancing, singing, shelling out money for last minute Obama gear, and cars and trucks zoomed down the Magnificent Mile with people standing in the sunroof squealing.

I walked from the Magnificent Mile again to 5^th street just watching people in stunned silence. Couples snuggled closely. Random supporters held signs. Teenagers giggled and roared like they were at a football game. Barack Obama had actually won-and by a landslide victory.

I went back to the newsroom to continue updating the site in my office, and I could still hear people chanting "Yes we can" and spelling Obama's name. But my fingers stopped tapping the keyboard when I heard another voice. A familiar voice. The baritone voice of the 44^th president of the United States of America. Apparently there were microphones all down the Magnificent Mile strip because I could hear Obama's entire speech as if he was in our building. I sat on the radiator bench of my office munching peanuts and listened to Obama's acceptance speech. From seventeen floors up, everyone looked like ants through the glass windows, but I was just excited at work as I would have been at Grant Park. My birthday is next Tuesday on Veteran's Day, but Obama being elected was the best gift I could ever have. My next favorite day will be January 20, 2009. I don't hope it all works out. I know it will.