An Electrifying Night

At Sassafras House, my election day birthday dawned cold and a little bleak.  It was our 8th morning without electricity.  Though I had great confidence that Obama would secure re-election, I  expected a day of nervous waiting.  The polls looked good, Nate Silver was giving me terrific odds, and yet I wasn't in a mood to count on much.  I've been disappointed on election day birthdays in the past, most notably in 1984, when Ronald Reagan swept the nation and defeated Walter Mondale.  When you care about politics as much as I do, you hate to make assumptions.

JT and I headed off to a local diner for breakfast and then I voted in a FEMA-powered temporary polling station.  For the afternoon, we joined the T-N family for companionship, heat, and electricity.  I began to troll the web for exit-poll data.  I was anxiously hopeful.  After supper, we had some birthday cake and as I blew out the candles I opted for my nation and wished for an Obama victory instead of power for my home.  

We turned on the telly at 8 pm to watch poll returns.  As polls in the east closed, the southern states provided numbers for Romney's column, but that was hardly surprising.  New York and New Jersey were predictably blue.  Pennsylvania was good.  Then, more surprisingly, New Hampshire went for Obama.  Soon the numbers began to shift in Obama's direction.  As I began to relax in the surety of an Obama victory, my friend M, who also lives in my town, texted that she had power.  I called my home and heard the re-assuring voice of my answering machine and I knew that I too was back on the grid.

Within the hour, JT and I drove home, confident that the day had brought us a whole lot of blessings.  We switched on the furnace and settled in to watch more swing states line up on the blue side of the equation.  Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico…the news was good and getting better.  We stayed up late, determined to watch Romney's concession and see November 6 out on a much happier note than it had begun.  Electricity and an Obama victory?  In one day?  Our cup overfloweth.

Later this week, I'll have some thoughts about what Obama's re-election means.  Hint: the numbers in Congress may be virtually the same, but the game has changed, a fact Republicans must understand and acknowledge.  But today is for celebrating the blessings of democracy, citizenship, electricity, and four more years of an Obama White House.  We are blessed.