Night at the Rally

(Above) Thousands of people at the
Obama rally in McCormick Place
waving American flags.

           Four years ago my family had the opportunity to go to Grant Park and see history in the making: Barack Obama  elected as the first African-American President. And again four years later my family attended this same event at McCormick Place. The line weaved around the whole building as we waited to go through security. A man ran up to my parents pleading if we had any extra tickets-- it was his dream to see Obama and we were able to make it happen-- for two of his friends too who flew in from Newark. After we gave them the tickets the wife of a couple behind us in line said with a huge smile on her face, "It just makes me so happy to see that you could make a person happy like that." It is just so amazing that one act of kindness could make such a big impact in ones life. This was only the start to the eventful night.
          Walking under the Forward signs, we approached the big showroom where our President would eventually speak later that night. Every time a state was awarded to Obama the crowd burst into excitement, waving American flags, showing their hope for the country. After numerous battleground victories, the President elect was announced and the crowd could not stop cheering. The emotions on peoples faces were amazing to see: happiness, relief, tears.
          I realized how diverse the people around me were: young, old, black, white, hispanic, asian, gay straight. These people were an indication of the new America Obama has brought to the surface for all to see. I think this is truly what America stands for as a nation, like a big melting pot or a big collage. In fact, later we would learn that it was truly many of the minorities that lead Obama to victory. Ugene Robinson, of the Washington Post Writers Group, addressed this and found that "roughly three of every ten voters Tuesday were minorities. African-Americans chose Obama by 93 percent, Latinos by 71, percent, and Asian-Americans, the nation's fastest-growing minority, by 73 percent." Obama's re-election is a reaffirmation that we truly are a melting pot and power in our country will continue to follow the demographics of the electorate. The true test now is bringing the Romney supporters into the mix, did you notice the lack of diversity amongst the Romney supporters? Do you think they will willingly step into the fold to support the challenges that President Obama and our nation face? I had an awesome time at the rally, and can not wait to vote for the first time at the next election!