Election Night 2008 reflections
You may have to bare with me, as I am still groggy and sleep deprived from watching the around the clock coverage of Election Night returns on CNN and various other channels last night. No matter who you voted for in the Presidential Election, November 4th, 2008 will go down in American History. As a product of the Reagan Era, and a beneficary of the Clinton Era, and a sufferer of the G.W. Bush era, I can honestly say for the first time in my adult life I am excited about the direction the country could now be going in. Watching the acceptance speech from President Elect Barrack Obama in my living room had me glued to the screen, similar to how I was when MJ beat the Jazz for title number 6, or how Plaxico caught that game winning touchdown to defeat the unbeaten Patriots in last years Superbowl. I am not only proud to see the first African American be elected to the highest office of this country, but to see that it wasn’t just the “Black” vote that got him in. For a brief moment, you saw how great this country can once again be, when people of all walks of life come together for one common goal, which is change.
Click here to view the embedded video.
In other Election night news, I read on the bottom of my screen last night that former Phoenix Suns great Kevin Johnson was elected mayor of Sacramento last night. Here is an excerpt from the Associated Press about the Johnson victory:
"Johnson, a former All-Star point guard for the Phoenix Suns, is the first black mayor of Sacramento. The 42-year-old Democrat with conservative social views defeated two-term incumbent Heather Fargo in a run-off election.
“Sacramento also made history today in electing its first black mayor,” Johnson said. “Both Obama and myself, we ran on a promise and the theme of change. No more business as usual.”
Johnson put some flash into his campaign with the backing of basketball royalty Shaquille O’Neal, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley. He wants to raise the profile of his hometown and bemoans his city’s image beside that of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“We should be a destination place,” he said leading into the election.
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For those who may not remember KJ on the court, check out this short video highlight reel:
Yes, Election Night 2008 is in the books. It is the morning after. There is an awful lot of work to be done by those newly elected across this country, but for some reason, at least for me, a sense of hope resinates today more than yesterday.
