Waking Up Post-Election Day

I'm not used to waking up after election day with glee.

Now, that's probably because in the last few years there hasn't been much to be gleeful about. Did I celebrate when Mamdani won? Absolutely. But I'm nowhere near New York even if my state's painted blue.

Well, aside from the farmland, but farmland doesn't vote.

This was my first year voting in person after college days away. Voting by mail is one thing, but stepping up to the ballot box pulls at my heartstrings.

I was the youngest in the room by far, seeing as it was 2 PM on a Monday - me having just come off the train back home from class. The room was cramped. Almost like they were trying to suffocate you. I already knew the candidates, the parties, the positions, but stepping into that room sucked my brains from my head, leaving me a blubbering mess.

But my vote was cast, chin held high.

It would have been better with a sticker. Can you believe they didn't have a sticker?

I knew what the results would be given my county, so rather than keep tabs on Illinois, I looked to the rest. The swing states. Even before I studied political science, before I had half the knowledge I do now, they always caused me alarm. I'm sure at least half the US population can agree with that.

Besides, this was midterms, how many people vote in midterms? Probably not enough. It's never enough.

But as I stared down the Kornacki Cam, I wondered if this time there was enough.

For a while, ever since Red, White & Royal Blue, my sister and I have talked about a blue Texas. Of course, it was a pipe dream. After all, Texas of all places wasn't going to elect a Democrat. Right?

So, imagine my surprise, my shock, my glee, when I watched the shade switch from gray to magnificent blue.

This was it. This was the moment I'd been waitig for, the moment we've been waiting for.

And then there was more. There was the Carolinas, Kansas, Ohio, Maine, Michigan - more states flipped then I thought was possible. With the way things are going we might even flip Mississippi; that'll make two states in the Deep South Democratic. It almost feels like a dream.

Seeing the maps light up blue at twelve in the morning made me misty eyed - as silly as that may sound. Being on call with friends, celebrating states neither of us are from, but knowing the impact this will have, that's enough to make anyone far above glad.

So when I woke up today, it wasn't with the same dread I did two years ago. I didn't sit in bed, a stone on my chest, and fear what I'd see when I opened my phone screen. This time I looked upon with unadulterated joy at all the firsts we saw in the past twenty-four hours.

Some may say that this is just the midterms, that votes still don't matter, but millions across the US proved how wrong that sentiment is. If we live in a world where Texas can go blue, we live in a world in which anything is possible.

When I walked outside this morning, my chest light, my smile wide, there was a faint drizzle in the air. Nothing strong, just an autumn rain. The wind gave a faint chill, but hey that's the Midwest in Novemeber. When I looked up an honest to god rainbow stretched across the sky. I knew in that moment that there were even better times to come. We've laid the groundwork, now it's time to make the strides.