Election Day Report: West Coast

Miguel Viveiros reports from Oakland, CA:

Watching the election via internet at Mama Buzz Cafe on Telegraph (near 23rd Street,) Miguel told me via phone at the time Obama's victory was announced: There are fireworks going off on the street. Police are lining Telegraph Avenuce, a main street through downtown Oakland. People are partying hard in downtown, Oakland until 4AM. Go Oakland! We won!

Jessica Martinez reports from San Francisco, CA:

I was in sf during the elections. i'm still registered there and had a dr's appointment the day before. everyone was screaming in the streets and honking their horns. i was at a house in the tenderloin so i started banging pots outside the window. i didn't think i'd be that excited because Obama was kind of annoying me with his talking in circles all the time. But when it was actually announced, i felt so proud and emotional. I got greedy and hoped proposition 8 (defining marriage between a man and woman) would fail but it passed, just barely. Nevertheless, the fact that in his acceptance speech, Obama thanked people of different races, "gays and straits", disabled and non-disabled, made me really excited. So even if he does end up just talking, at least he's talking about gays and disabled people, I've never heard a president thank those groups. Another thing I became aware of as I watched his speech was how young he is, especially in comparison to the other candidate. He really seems to have the energy and determination to work for what he believes in. And when he talked about a 106 year old black woman who, in her lifetime, couldn't vote because she was black and a woman, and now is seeing a black person become prez, i thought that these reforms just take time. a loooonng time.

Sara Bernard comments from S.F. Bay Area:

I was in SF at a friends house, but certainly things were crazy in SF and in berkeley and generally there were loads of tears and cheers and jumping up and down -- happy to be an american, for the first time in a looooooonnnng time -- what an awesome awesome win!!!!!!