I’ve never hugged so many strangers as I did in downtown Santa Cruz the night Barack Obama was elected. But I’ll get to that in a minute…

My election experience began earlier that afternoon when I drove from GT headquarters to my polling place across town. As I drove through the intersection at Water and Pacific, passing clusters of sign toting election cheerleaders, I got anxious and decided to forget my neighborhood polling place and swing by the nearby County Elections office to vote instead. I went up the stairs, followed the arrows … and there it was. Where the magic happens. I tried to make a permanent memory of the moment by staring very hard at the little arrow on the ballot where I had marked my vote for President. I’m not sure the image will stick - the light was bad and hurt my eyes – but the feeling will. The buzz didn’t die all day; after work, I headed to Cypress Lounge to further indulge in the election intoxication. 

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the Obama madness that greeted me at Cypress’ entrance exceeded it all. The bar was absolutely stuffed with an assortment of people unlike any I’d ever seen at a bar – families, young professionals, college students, older folks, and everyone in between. Children were playing in the back patio area; it was difficult to tell if their energy and excitement was over getting to stay up later or because they were prematurely inspired by politics. Claustrophobia set in and my election night cohort and I ventured elsewhere.

We were outside when Barack Obama was announced as the President elect. Fireworks went off in the distance, cars began honking as they passed … and we just knew. We ducked into a very crowded Red for celebratory drinks, which had brought in large screens for the occasion. We watched the speeches with an intently focused and stimulated lot of patrons, most toasting wine glasses. There was the occasional heckle during McCain’s concession speech, but absolute silence throughout Obama’s (a silence the Red has never seen before, and will never see again) that was punctuated by hugs between friends and tears being wiped from the occasional eye. After a collective, <gasp> nationalistic moment watching unforgettable moments (Obama saying, “Our stories are singular, but our destinies are shared,” Jesse Jackson’s tears) with the Red crowd, we decided to check out another spot.

We never made it anywhere else. As we walked from Cedar Street to Pacific Ave, we were swallowed by mounting excitement… complete strangers were hugging and high-fiving as they passed on the street, whooping was booming from all directions, car after car was honking in celebration.  By the time we got to the corner of Walnut and Pacific Ave, a small gathering of revelers had formed. It wasn’t long before that spot burst into a giant, spontaneous celebration. People danced in the streets. Danced on cars. Danced with strangers. I could still hear the chants of “Yes we can!” and feel the vibrations of victory when I got back to my Seabright home later that night. Here is a video of the first bit of the gathering; it only got wilder after this. Watch as Santa Cruz goes nuts on the night of Barack Obama’s historic victory.

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