The 2008 presidential election between Barack Obama and John McCain was the most important election that America has had thus far. This election focused on the most significant issues of our lives, including the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care and education.
This election was also special because an unprecedented number of young voters exercised their right to vote for the candidate of their choice. Since this election was so important to my future, I personally felt that it would be a sin not to vote, or at least try to make a change in our nation.
Before Election Day, I listened to all that was being said about the candidates. I heard a lot of positive feedback about Obama, which was no surprise. However, with all the positive things I was hearing about Obama, I heard an equal amount of negative things about McCain. I have never been so interested in politics.
I paid attention to the news every night before Election Day and listened to both candidates thoroughly with an open mind. By Election Day, I knew who I would vote for without a doubt. I knew that Election Day would make a lot of people feel a variety of emotions, so with this in mind I took it upon myself to watch everyone the following day.
Finally, Election Day was here and I was very anxious to cast my vote for Obama. Since I am a first time voter, before I went to my polling location, I had the following questions in mind: What will it be like? What type of people will I see at the polls? Will the lines be long?
Will there be a malfunction with the voting machine or the tabulator, or both? Questions began popping into my head like crazy, but I wasn’t nervous at all because the only thing I was focused on was to help make a change that day.
When I arrived at my polling location, I was determined to get in and out as quickly as possible. I voted at Bethel AME Church, and it was not like I had expected it to be. The line was not very long. I was required to show identification and my voter’s registration card.
I brought them both with me, so I’m glad I came prepared. I walked in and asked to fill out a voting form that determined my voting location in the church. I located Obama’s name on the ballot and I cast my vote for him. I then filled out the rest of the ballot based on the positive information that I knew about my selections.
Luckily, there was nothing wrong with the tabulator. When I was done voting, I took a last look at all of the people in the church. It was a fairly nice-sized group of men and women who were mostly African Americans of various ages. I did, however, notice that there were more older voters than younger ones. This soon changed because as I left, younger people started coming in.
Finally, the night America was waiting for was winding down. My family and I were eagerly glued to the television. We were praying for Obama to win. Our prayers were soon answered when I saw that the number of electoral votes for Obama had climbed to 284 and McCain’s stayed at 156.
I was so excited because this proved that people wanted a change for our society and for our future. When the news anchor announced that Obama was our next president, my mother began to cry. I wondered if her tears were from joy or from years of pain. Either way, it was a truly historical moment and I was part of it. I helped make history.
