As an Obama supporter, it was a fun evening. The crowd was about 50% British and 50% American. The British 50% were Obama fans by default; I think opinion polls in the UK had something like 91% of all Britons preferring Barack. Because the event was organized online, the American crowd was young and skewed way to the left. Natalie, Abby, Kate and I ended up staying all night with about 800 others, counting down each set of poll closings while watching British coverage of the event.
The surprise of the night, though, was that I got interviewed by BBC Radio! Natalie, a couple other people and I were all asked a handful of questions. Our answers are apparently floating around in cyberspace and along the British radio airwaves somewhere. If I miraculously happen to find it, I'll post it. I also was snatched aside while walking back from the restroom by another set of journalists early in the evening, this time from (I think) University College London for their student newspaper and TV station. Truthfully, the British were just as excited about the election as any American, and it was cool to be singled out on such a huge night.
Interestingly, about 95% of the coverage that wasn't spent covering the results was dedicated to the sole issue of Obama's race. I won't ramble on about politics and such, but I hope that those of you reading this agree with me when I say that, while race is of course an issue, the U.S. must be given a little more credit for progress in this department. I was a bit irked when a few reports here suggested that the main impetus for a white person voting for a black candidate was to "repay an ancient debt and that blacks are grateful for them doing so;" I quote that directly from thelondonpaper, too. In the end, regardless of how you all voted, I do sincerely hope you did not vote simply on the basis of race. I optimistically give America (the majority, at least) a bit more credit than that.
Nonetheless, it was an exciting night and London was abuzz the next morning with excitement that their own preferred choice had won. I don't even think their own elections make nearly as much noise or get them nearly as riled up. The one thing I'll take away from the whole experience is that if you're American, you should feel honored that you get to vote in a U.S. election...there are millions of other people that wish they had the chance, too.
Here are two London newspaper covers from today...
Left: The Times, London's top paper. Right: thelondonpaper, one of London's free papers.
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