Nothing can stand in the way of millions calling for change
Columnist recalls experience working for Obama campaign
Kallie Schell
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion
8 p.m. rolled around and that was the end of the campaigning. Now it was time to go change into nicer clothes and head to what we all were hoping was a victory party. The venue was a country club that housed enough televisions so the greatest amount of people would be able to see the results as the nation's polls continued to close. The place was jam packed with anxious attendees; the main room and side room were completely full. We all sat around in an anxious fervor of hopes and excitement. We wanted to be confident but not so confident we jinxed it. In response to the report of an Ohio victory, my campaign director said, "It doesn't matter. He hasn't won. We can't celebrate until we know Obama has won."
It was almost ten o'clock and that meant California's polls were closing up. This was crucial. The entire room was silent. We waited with bated breath. On CBS a message on the screen proclaimed "Breaking News", and my stomach dropped. It felt like five minutes instead of mere seconds to hear what the news was. "Barack Obama is the projected president-elect of the United States." I swear the room hesitated for just one second and then erupted! People were shouting, jumping, and declaring "Yes we did! Yes we did!"
I turned to my best friend, who I had worked with for countless hours, and gave her a huge hug. I turned to the campaign director, a man who I had become good friends with, and jubilantly embraced him. He whispered, "We did it, kid." and I broke down. Tears of elation were pouring down my face. I ran from one friend to another jumping up and down, giving countless hugs. I made a few tearful phone calls to my family, proclaiming what they already knew. In those moments of victory I was infinite. Nothing could have tainted that feeling.
Eventually the crowd hushed a bit, awaiting the victory speech. Never will I forget the sight of my high school aged campaign friends standing around a television, hands to their hearts and tears streaming down their faces as they recited the "Pledge of Allegiance." It was pride at its finest. Obama appeared on the screen and the room erupted again, but fell silent much faster. Everyone in the vicinity stopped around a T.V. and smiled, some of the biggest smiles I have ever seen, as the 44th president of the United States spoke of the long journey that had brought us to that moment.
In the past year the memories of that transformative campaign pour over me. I remember the emotions on that night and can't help but smile. The country will continue to see tough times and the criticisms will still fly from party-to-party, but I will always hold a special corner of my heart for that campaign and for our president. His words still inspire me and, after such hard work, I have never questioned that "nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change."
It was almost ten o'clock and that meant California's polls were closing up. This was crucial. The entire room was silent. We waited with bated breath. On CBS a message on the screen proclaimed "Breaking News", and my stomach dropped. It felt like five minutes instead of mere seconds to hear what the news was. "Barack Obama is the projected president-elect of the United States." I swear the room hesitated for just one second and then erupted! People were shouting, jumping, and declaring "Yes we did! Yes we did!"
I turned to my best friend, who I had worked with for countless hours, and gave her a huge hug. I turned to the campaign director, a man who I had become good friends with, and jubilantly embraced him. He whispered, "We did it, kid." and I broke down. Tears of elation were pouring down my face. I ran from one friend to another jumping up and down, giving countless hugs. I made a few tearful phone calls to my family, proclaiming what they already knew. In those moments of victory I was infinite. Nothing could have tainted that feeling.
Eventually the crowd hushed a bit, awaiting the victory speech. Never will I forget the sight of my high school aged campaign friends standing around a television, hands to their hearts and tears streaming down their faces as they recited the "Pledge of Allegiance." It was pride at its finest. Obama appeared on the screen and the room erupted again, but fell silent much faster. Everyone in the vicinity stopped around a T.V. and smiled, some of the biggest smiles I have ever seen, as the 44th president of the United States spoke of the long journey that had brought us to that moment.
In the past year the memories of that transformative campaign pour over me. I remember the emotions on that night and can't help but smile. The country will continue to see tough times and the criticisms will still fly from party-to-party, but I will always hold a special corner of my heart for that campaign and for our president. His words still inspire me and, after such hard work, I have never questioned that "nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change."
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