Obama WINS!!!
Obama WINS!!!, originally uploaded by blmurch.
Tuesday afternoon, I met up with Zak Schwarzman, the Latin American Obama Campaign Representative and used the SLICK website that Obama's campaign set up to make GOTV calls. That was a fantastic implementation and so very easy to use. The website guys did a fantastic job. Zak told me that one of the guys, if not *the* guy was a former programmer from Facebook who went to go work on barackobama.com Amazing work. It was simple and intuitive to make GOTV calls via their website using Skype. Everyone I talked to in Virginia was voting or had voted and I left a ton of messages. I left Galeria Jardin to meet up with Laurie and Kragen to go out to Palermo.
We all took the 151 bus to Palermo and walked into the packed party sponsored by Expat Conneciton in Sugar Bar. With no place to sit and the noise defying any type of conversation, we opted to have dinner across the street at Mama Racha Cafe where we could at least have a good conversation. We all ordered salads of varying types and I had a porron of Quilmes beer. After a yummy, but expensive dinner Laurie and I once again braved the crowds at Sugar - Kragen went home. I got some shots in and while I was shooting, in walked my folks, crisply dressed in the spring heat. We hunted down a place to sit and some food, but once again, we ended up across the street at Mama Racha. We sat outside on the sidewalk and enjoyed the warm spring night. Every time there was a cheer, I'd run across the street to see what was up. There were many other USAsians at the sidewalk tables - one guy with his blackberry let us know that Obama won New York (I think). After my folks had a light and typically late dinner, we walked about 15 blocks to Sacramento Bar. It was just as packed. This party was organized by the Democrats Abroad Argentina. It seems like it was a good thing that there were two locations as both places were very full. The crowd burst into cheers and chants as Obama was declared President-Elect. I put a short film up on youtube and photos on flickr.
The gathering at the bar was attended by lots of media. A local C5N crew was there, and tLaura Isensee was using her cellphone to video-record interviews for Clarin.com In a blog post on the NY Times, in a piece about worldwide reactions, our party got a mention by Alexei Barrionuevo: "The Sacramento bar in the trendy Palermo district filled with a thunderous roar when CNN declared Mr. Obama the winner. Several hundred Americans and a few Argentines who were packed inside then launched into a soccer chant, singing, “Olé olé olé olé, Obama Obama!”
Click to view“The biggest economy in the world has a leader that the world can talk to,” said Alejandro Saks, an Argentine television scriptwriter. “There is the feeling that for the first time since Kennedy, America has a different type of leader.”"
It was amazing to witness this historic moment in USA history. I loved being in the community of supporters, the energy rippled through the air. After watching John McCain's classy concession speech and Obama's gracious and heartfelt acceptance speech, we found a taxi a couple of blocks away. I was dropped off first to attend an after party with friends and my family went back to San Telmo. It was a very long and happy night.
In my reading, I've gotten sucked into a seven part series on the campaign on Newsweek. Much has been talked about (in my family) about Obama's grandmother's death was like she was passing on her legacy and letting go. I found this excerpt: ""Greg Craig was not the only old Kennedy hand to fall in love. At Coretta Scott King's funeral in early 2006, Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert Kennedy, leaned over to him and whispered, "The torch is being passed to you." "A chill went up my spine," Obama told an aide. The funeral, he said, was "pretty intimidating."" I'm hoping that serious change is afoot. I know that several people here in Buenos Aires are returning back to the USA. It feels a bit strange not to be following suit, but we didn't leave because of the Bush Administration. We left to learn Spanish, get a view of life outside the U.S.A. and get a clue about the world around us. It does feel strange to be looking in from the outside at this historic moment in time. I'm just glad that we're alive to witness a new era in American politics, and life. I'm saddened of the apparent passing of Prop 8 in California, taking away the right of homosexual couple to marry. I did hear though that the absentee ballots and the early votes haven't yet been counted and it's close enough that those make a difference. Should I hold out hope? Looks like others have moved on directly to filing suits.
What an exciting night. It took me a while to recover and I have a very full day ahead at the Academia de Wikimedia. I should go to sleep.