I have to admit that I was deeply moved watching Obama’s victory speech tonight. Not because of anything he said in particular (though it was a fine speech for the occasion), but because he– a black man, son of immigrants, was there to give that speech. Watching audience members crying– young and old, black and white, men and women alike– I was truly shaken by the momentous importance of this moment regardless of one’s political ideology. I underestimated how amazing it would be to witness this amazing moment in American history. What a sight it must be for black Americans to finally have this example that many of the rest of us take for granted. What a sight it was for me… a black president-elect not even 50 years after the Civil Rights Act.

As a nation we are so young, with so many wounds still smarting– I never expected to see an election like this in my lifetime. I believed that the unlikely prospect of an Obama victory would involve the tightest possible race. But instead we have a landslide,  with voters cutting across traditional boundaries of race and socio-economic status. The map of red and blue has been fundamentally rewritten. I underestimated the American people. I hope I’ve underestimated Obama as well.