Harbus

Issue date: 2/2/09 Section: News

Christina Wallace (NB)

From his announcement joining the Democratic primaries in February, 2007, to his inauguration on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama has incited an unparalled following among young voters. This is the story of one student's involvement in his campaign up to, and including, his inauguration.

I came alone to the inauguration, but I am joined here by a throng of two million individuals. To my left an elderly grandfather leans on a cane next to his wife while their three granddaughters snuggle under a blanket. On my right are two doctoral students, friends who study far apart but are united for this momentous day. A few rows ahead, a mob of boisterous college students with patriotically painted faces are toasting with contraband vodka. The teenager in front of me keeps stepping on my shoe, but that's ok; I haven't been able to feel my toes since 7 AM. The atmosphere is electric, the cold completely brutal, and the weight of the historic ritual palpable. After two years of anxious hope, I could be nowhere else on this brilliant day than planted in front of the Washington monument in our nation's capital.

I first heard Barack Obama nearly five years ago when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. A senior in college, I had joined a gathering at a friend's apartment to watch the closing night's televised festivities. For eighteen minutes I sat in rapt attention as this fresh-faced senator with a strange name delivered the most profound political speech I had ever heard. He set his own stunning story within an eloquent expression of his vision of a unified America. This senator was not an ordinary politician.

Obama announced his candidacy for President on February 10, 2007. Like millions of other young women, I felt torn. Just three weeks earlier Hillary Clinton had done the same, and I had given her my support and a donation. Although I remained excited by Hillary's candidacy, I began to hope that this extraordinary man could contend for the Democratic nomination. And as the spring slid into summer I found myself inching closer to his campaign.

That fall, I met a student at Columbia Law School who was a fervent Obama supporter. We talked politics on our first date, and second, and third. Our discussions of the election became a catalyst for our romance, and in turn kept us both glued to the headlines. As my daily news consumption bordered on gluttony, I planted both feet firmly in Obama's camp. The primaries were focusing on Clinton, Obama, and Edwards, though it was soon clear the fight would boil down to the first two. Beginning to regret my earlier support for Clinton, I made a matching donation to Obama's campaign and pledged to volunteer as much as I could throughout the long primary cycle ahead.

Continued...

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