A Day for Pasta and Politics

November 13, 2008
By Noel Aliseo

There are never too many cooks at the kitchen or politicians at the table during the annual Election Day Spaghetti Supper at the Our Lady of Pompeii Parish in downtown Syracuse.

Lucy Paris is a parishioner of Our Lady of Pompeii and one of the event organizers. She says after fifty-nine years, this fundraiser has become a Syracuse Election Day tradition that draws a big crowd. In order to feed over two thousand people that attend the event, volunteers came together to prep 7,000 meatballs, 300 gallons of sauce, and 640 pounds of pasta during the weeks leading up to the big day.

She believes so many people enjoy coming here every year because of the good food and unbiased ground, “It's both parties, its not just one or the other, its neutral territory here on Election Day and everyone really enjoys it!”

Father Paul of Our Lady of Pompeii is at the supper greeting everyone at the door. He agrees with Paris, “When your down here your not democratic, your not republican, you are Pompeian, and everybody gets together to have a good time and laugh and reminisce and to me there is no better time to do that!”

Ava Shapero Raphael is the republican nominee for Surrogate Court Judge. She says coming to the spaghetti supper is special because it represents an end of campaigning and a time to celebrate everyone's hard work. “Right now it's just saying thank you to everyone who has supported me and just enjoying today, the beautiful weather, and hoping everyone gets out to vote.”

But with thousands of voters attending the supper, some politicians say campaigning is not over until it is over. Christina Fadden Fitch is a local candidate for state representative. “I'm still campaigning right up to the last minute trying to get votes.” However, Fitch says it is not the kind of campaigning that goes on during the weeks leading up to Election Day, “I call this kind of campaigning just being visible and showing the community that you care.”

Dale Sweetland, the candidate for the 25th district congressional seat, agrees and says you may get a dash of politics with your pasta. “There's probably a little bit of campaigning going on, it goes on all day so there's a little touch of campaign.”

Neutral ground or not, the event is for a good cause. All proceeds go to the Our Lady of Pompeii School. Tickets cost $7 dollars for adults, $6 dollars for seniors, and $5 dollars for children ages 5 to 10. Tino Porrino, a volunteer at the supper, says the supper raised over twelve-thousand dollars last year. This year, volunteers are expecting to make more money for the school because it is a presidential election year.

Photo from Syracuse.com

Young Voters Working Local

November 13, 2008
By Torie Wells

Many students attending Syracuse University don't live in the city. Most don't live in the county, or even the state. But on Tuesday night, the College Republicans focused more on Syracuse candidate Dale Sweetland than candidates in their home states, or even the race for the presidency.

“There's a saying that all politics is local, and that your local representatives will affect your living conditions more than the president,” said Paul Alberry. He's the liaison between the campus group and the Sweetland campaign.

Sweetland, Democrat Dan Maffei and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins were all vying for the 25th Congressional seat being vacated by retiring Republican James Walsh. Walsh held the seat for 20 years.

But it wasn't just the importance of supporting a local candidate that drove College Republicans to work for Sweetland, it was also a matter of where their work could have the biggest effect.
“New York is a lost cause for us. Obama will win no matter what,” said Alberry, “and with a local race that's so contested, it could go either way. It's very important for our Republican side to help out and get Sweetland elected.”

But what Republicans expected to be a highly contested race turned into a landslide win by Sweetland's Democratic opponent, Dan Maffei. Maffei won by about 15 percentage points.
Part of the loss stemmed from the fact that College Republicans are not the majority of young voters said members of the Onondaga county Republican party.

“It's always about working the cycle and appealing to younger voters and getting them out. And teaching them what our point of view is and that it is a common sense point of view and if they listen to it, they will appreciate it," said Matt Wells. Wells is a member of the County's Republican Party. He also worked on the Sweetland campaign.

After a disappointing loss at a local and national level, Wells said the party has to just re-group and move forward.

Moving forward is what the College Republicans plan to do as well. They are now focusing on upcoming events on campus, specifically an effort to bring Karl Rove to Syracuse University.

Picture from Syracuse.com

Residents Disappointed in Sweetland's Hometown

November 13, 2008

By Rosanne Salvatore

It's hard to find a soul in the Village of Fabius who isn't a friend of, or somehow connected to, Republican Dale Sweetland. Sweetland ran and lost last night against Dan Maffei for the 25th District Congressional Seat.

In Fabius, residents say that they are disappointed that Sweetland was not victorious because he is a true representation of his hometown.

Sweetland owned and operated a dairy farm in Fabius for most of his life, only giving up his family business to pursue politics.

“Dale is a farmer, Dale's father was a farmer, and they're good people,” says Victor Luche, a good friend of Sweetland's and Fabius native.

Nicole Wilbur, a childhood friend of Sweetland's, could not say enough about how good of a guy he is. “We like what he stands for, he listens to you. Not many many people sit there and listen to you.”

Sweetland represents the local farmer and these old friends will never forget that. “When someone from this area doesn't win, we feel it- we don't get the funding,” says Wilbur.

In Fabius, there is an air of concern that Maffei does not truly understand the needs of people who live on the outskirts of the Syracuse City. “I guess I don't know enough about Maffei, but I'll be finding out,” says Luche. He is unsure just how much of an effect Maffei's win will have on his daily life.

Despite personal relationships with this candidate, one real concern trumped the rest - money. The overall picture presented by Fabius residents is that Sweetland was not a politician his whole life, which is why he did not have the amount of money for his campaign that Maffei did. “He's basically a poor rural guy who competed against someone with a lot of money, so they got out a little further,” says Kevin Way, a local dairy farmer.

No matter how long residents talked about their adoration of Sweetland's character, the conversation always turned back to campaign money. “Maffei had run and lost before, so he had a little treasure chest. Sweetland couldn't start fundraising until after he was nominated by the Republican Party,” says Ann DeMord. Luche also felt that money was one of Maffei's biggest assets, driving his campaign. “I know the man came up with an enormous amount of money to take this seat. I'm not sure that's a good thing.”

In Fabius, people were not as concerned about where Sweetland will go from here. “This was a tough blow for Dale, as it'd be for anyone,” Luche continued. But his good friend knows that Sweetland will bounce back.

All pictures from Poststandard.com

Police Identify Columbus Ave. Homicide Victim

November 13, 2008

By Boris Sanchez

Syracuse police have identified the body of a homicide victim killed in a shooting last night. Officers found Khalic Pitts, 32, on the corner of Columbus and Lexington Avenue after responding to a "shots fired" call around 9 PM. Pitts, who was a resident of 210 Palmer Ave., was rushed to University Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Police have made no arrests in relation to the shooting and say that so far, they have no witnesses.

But, many residents, like Naima, who lives on the corner of Columbus and Lexington, were awake at the time of the shooting. Naima said she heard three shots outside her window at about 8:45 PM and she “immediately hit the ground and took cover.” After a few minutes, she says she glanced outside her window and saw a man lying face down on the ground, but didn't see anyone near him.

Others like Joe, the owner of Lexington Market, heard the shots, too. Lexington Market is located down the street from the shooting, but Joe says he saw a number of men walking away from the area after he heard shots fired. He adds that a few minutes before he heard the shots, he saw a number of police cruisers driving nearby. He adds that he's upset someone was shot despite police being in the area.

“It's a damn shame,” Joe says. “They could've spared his life.”

Another nearby resident, Deidra McCollum, said she heard the shots, but paid little attention to the commotion outside. McCollum has lived on Lexington Ave. three years and she says that violence in the neighborhood is something she's grown accustomed to.

“Every couple of months they're shooting. They're always shooting. Every time I turn around, they're shooting. With the drugs and them fighting over this and that - It just makes it harder to raise your kids on this block,” she said.

Deidra is the mother of an 8-year-old boy and she says that he's the reason she hopes to move out of the neighborhood early next year.

This is the 17th homicide in Syracuse this year. Police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to come forward confidentially by calling their hotline at 315-442-5222.

Democrat Takes 25th Congressional Seat

November 13, 2008
By Deborah Findling

After over 30 years of Republicans in office, Dan Maffei is the first Democrat to take the 25th New York congressional district seat in a long time. It's big news here in Syracuse and nationally where Barrack Obama, another Democratic party candidate has just won the U.S Presidency after two terms of a Republican candidate.

In times of economic concerns, trends show that constituents vote Democrat and in times of national security concerns, constituents vote Republican. While these trends are common, we went out into the community to find out for ourselves what made voters switch.

Many people we ran across voted Democratic across the board and were concerned with the Republican party in general. However, those that were aware of the politics within this congressional district remembered Maffei's name from the ballot when he ran against Jim Walsh two years ago. His loss was only by a slim margin of almost 4,000 votes and many voters outside the polls on election day told us, they voted for him as they did not recognize Dale Sweetland's name.

Last week, right up until the election night, candidates vied to prove that they were the better candidate. A November 3rd debate scheduled the night before the election with Dale Sweetland, Dan Maffei and Howie Hawkins would be missing one important person: winner Dan Maffei. We spoke to Maffei's campaign last Tuesday about this and press secretary Abigail Gardner explained that Maffei's campaign found it more important to go door to door the night before elections.

When we spoke to Travis Glazier, campaign director for Dale Sweetlands campaign however, it was a very different story. "In terms of the debate, they wanted a half hour for each individual candidate," Glazier explained, after their demands were not met back in August, they pulled out of the debate and chose to campaign instead in Wayne County. This seemed odd to Glazier the night before elections, a night he says is usually one where nothing else can be done and Jim Wreath's sit down, town hall style forum is a welcome sigh of relief.

Whether opting out of the debate was a strategic move to get what the campaign wanted or a last minute attempt to garner votes, ultimately Dan Maffei was named winner on November 4th. With a 54% to 42% win, Sweetland said later he thought the race would be closer. The Syracuse community hopes that his strong ties in Washington as well as his potential policies will pay off for the 25th New York congressional district.

Jordan-Elbridge Goes Red For McCain

November 13, 2008
By Kareen Preble

Jordan-Elbridge lies twenty miles outside of the city of Syracuse, but it feels like worlds away. Farmland and quaint houses replace the hustle and bustle of the Syracuse streets. At a mere two days after Election Day, perhaps, the starkest contrast between Jordan-Elbridge and Syracuse is their politics.

Barack Obama overwhelmingly carried Onondaga County with nearly 60% of the vote and won by a large margin in Syracuse. Yet, Jordan-Elbridge represented a rare trend in Onondaga County-not only did it turn red for George W. Bush in 2004, but in this election, the town strengthened its support for the Republican Party. John McCain triumphed with a 25% margin over Obama.

Dennis Pelmear, the Chairman of the Town of Elbridge Republican Committee said the town has a long history of being Republican and that “things in the rural community, I think McCain represented more.”

Patty Farrugia, a Jordan-Elbridge resident, was a McCain-Palin supporter. She said that the election was a popular topic of discussion in the town. She was also critical of the coverage of the election. She said, “now that the election is a day or so old, I'm more surprised that the race seemed to be based more on race and the issues were put on the backburner.”

While these Jordan-Elbridge residents spoke candidly about the election, most people did not want to comment on the subject nor did it seem like many wanted to publicly express support for their candidate of choice. There were very few election signs in the town and despite the large backing for the Republican Party; there were none for the McCain ticket. The support for Democratic candidates was more visible as there were several Obama-Biden signs.

African American Man, Shot, Killed

Local News

A Bright Future Ends Early
By: Paul Park
Contributor

It was a typical Wednesday night in Syracuse for Tamara Stewart. As a homeless woman, she usually hangs around and socializes with other homeless people. But Wednesday evening, a cool night turned into a tragedy.

An African-American man between his late twenties or early thirties was shot and killed Wednesday night at the corner of Lexington Ave. and Columbus Ave in Syracuse. Residents around the area said three shots were fired. Police have not yet released the identity of the victim, or any reason for his murder.

While the public does not know any details around this incident, Stewart said she knew the victim personally.

“He was outgoing, fun loving, and always seemed to know what was going on in the world,” Stewart said.

Stewart and other people in the neighborhood knew the victim by his street name, “Lolli.”

“He loved everyone,” Stewart said. “Lolli was concerned for everyone, particularly the black community.”

Stewart believes the murder was an act of personal grudge, and does not understand why someone would want to kill him.

“People should mind their own business,” Stewart added. “He knew what he wanted to do, so someone was probably jealous.”

According to Stewart, “Lolli” had dreams, and he recently told Stewart about his inspiration.

“He had big hopes and dreams,” Stewart said. “He was so proud of the U.S. for electing a black man. He wanted to someday have Obama’s place.”

Stewart also remembers how outspoken Lolli was.

“He always gave his own educated opinions about life,” Stewart said. “He was very critical about drugs and life, especially being a young, black male.”
Lolli’s friends and acquaintances said they do not believe the murder was an act of gang violence. Stewart said she just wants everyone to remember the determination Lolli had for the black community, and for his own future.

Local Town Supports Republicans

Election Coverage

Jordan-Elbridge Heavily Supports the Republican Party

By: Ashley Filiczkowski

Contributor

Jordan-Elbridge, located in Onondaga County, voted with a 25-percent margin in favor of McCain on Tuesday. Yet, in the 2004 Presidential election they only voted with a 5-percent margin in favor of the then Republican Candidate, George W. Bush. Why such an increase in the favor of the Republicans in Jordan - Elbridge, contrary to the rest of Onondaga County, who voted in favor of the Democrats in this election more so than in 2004?

Dennis Pelmear, the Chairman of the Town of Elbridge Republican Committee, says it’s possible that Sarah Palin brought excitement to the campaign, offering the people of Jordan – Elbridge “a lot they could relate to.”

Patty Farrugia, a resident of Jordan Elbridge says that she as an individual was drawn more to McCain because she did not like how the Democrats, “were criticizing people for being successful, in how they wanted to increase taxes.”

Despite the overall population of this district voting Republican, there were no signs around the town in support of the local Republican candidates or the McCain-Palin ticket. There were however nearly a dozen signs in support of local Democratic Candidates such as Dan Maffei and the Obama-Biden ticket.

Rural CNY Fears Maffei Will Leave Them Behind

Election Coverage

CNY Heartland Hurting Over Sweetland Loss

By: Norino Mirra

Contributor

Dale Sweetland lost the 25th district congressional race to Democrat Dan Maffei on Tuesday. The loss hit particularly hard for Sweetland supporters in and around his hometown of Fabius, New York. The area is made up of rural farmland, and boasts only a general store. Many residents were dejected and avoided talking about Maffei’s win. Those who were willing to talk were hurt that one of their own wasn’t able to represent them. Many farmers, like Kevin Way, thought Maffei won because he’s a big time politician and was able to raise millions of dollars more than Sweetland for his campaign.
Sweetland is “…basically a poor, rural guy who competed against someone with a lot of money.” Local Ann Demord points to Maffei having a head start and more exposure as the reasons why he won the congressional seat. “Maffei had run before and lost. So he had a little treasure chest.” Maffei also had many more television ads and exposure across Central New York than Sweetland.

The feeling of sadness seemed to pervade everybody in this small town. Sweetland grew up in Fabius, was a dairy farmer on his father’s farm, and eventually sold it to get into politics. For the residents of Fabius, he represents the farmer, the little guy. Fabius native Nicole Wilbur fondly remembers when Sweetland used to call her pet names as a little girl. She doesn’t see him as a politician so much as someone who just wants to help everybody. “We like what he stands for, he listens to you. Not many people sit there and listen to you.”
Victor Luche is a longtime friend of Sweetlands. They went to school together, and still keep in touch. Luche says it was a tough blow for Sweetland, but knows he’ll bounce back. Luche doesn’t know anything about Maffei, beyond the fact that Maffei “…came up with an enormous amount of money to take the seat.”
Luche isn’t the only Fabius resident who’s unfamiliar with Maffei. Nobody knows much about him, other than he ran against Sweetland and won. Nicole Wilbur is scared that Maffei will forget about the farm rich areas in and around Fabius. “When someone from this area doesn’t win, we feel it- we don’t get the funding.”What it comes down to is that Dan Maffei is a politican through and through. Maffei went to Nottingham High School in Syracuse, earned a Bachelor's Degree in History from Brown University and Masters Degrees from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Sweetland is a farmer first, and a politician second. He spent 25 years owning and managing an agricultural operation before selling the farm in 1997 and moving to the insurance industry. He grew up and went to school in Fabius. Sweetland’s pal Luche points out “Dale is a farmer, Dale’s father was a farmer, and they’re good people.”

Moving forward, small town Central New York residents hope that Dan Maffei won’t forget about them. Meanwhile, they will continue to lament the loss of Sweetland and wonder if they can trust someone that isn’t one of their own.

*Photos courtesy of Syracuse Post Standard and http://farm4.static.flickr.com, respectively

Democrats Control 25th District After 3 Decades

Election Coverage

Maffei Steals the Republican Vote in CNY
By: Jenna Grossbart

Contributor

After 30 years under Republican control, Dan Maffei has brought back the Democratic spot in the 25th congressional district. Maffei lead with 55 percent of the vote to his Republican opponent, Dale Sweetland’s 42 percent.

Maffei’s win was a long time coming and it was all smiles and good spirit at his headquarters in Madydale, NY as supporters helped pack up lawn signs, flags and pins.” This has been a great campaign because we laid a strong groundwork two years ago,” said Abigail Gardner, Maffei’s Press Secretary. Gardner says that they focused on the Northern suburbs like Cicero because they historically have been swing areas. She believes a mixture of their campaigning and the national mood contributed to their success over those known Republican areas. Maffei also raised almost 7 times the amount that Sweetland raised.

However, the feeling from downtown Syracuse residents was not only that they voted Democratic to be in accordance with the national vote, but that they refused to have another Republican in power. Robert Walker, a Syracuse resident said, “I don’t believe Republicans have the people’s best interest that the government should be for the people, not just the rich.” Another Syracuse resident, Robert Hughes said he could not fathom voting for someone [Sweetland] that would associate themselves with George W. Bush.

A First for Onondaga County

Election Coverage

Onondaga County Elects Its First Female Surrogate

By: Erik Elken
Contributor

It has been 20 years since Onondaga County has seen someone other than Judge Peter Wells at the helm of the Court Surrogate. That run is now over. Who is to take Wells’ place? Ava Shapero Raphael. She not only becomes the first Court Surrogate in 20 years but also the first woman ever to hold the elected position.

“It feels wonderful,” Raphael said. “We’ve never had a female Surrogate in Onondaga County, but I think the time has come and it’s very nice.”

Raphael, who ran on the Republican, Independence and Conservative party lines, defeated Democrat Steven Paquette late Tuesday evening. She finished with 53 percent of the vote to Paquette’s 47 percent.

“I’m excited and I owe it to my voters. It was a true grass roots effort. We’ve been out shaking hands and going door to door,” Raphael said.

Raphael has been Wells’ chief clerk for 16 years. Now she takes over for Wells as he was forced into retirement. Wells was unable to seek another term because he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.

The Onondaga County Court Surrogate is responsible for handling wills, estates and property of deceased persons. It also handles cases involving adoption and guardianships.

Raphael’s victory came as one of the few bright spots for the Republicans. GOP candidate for the 25th Congressional District, Dale Sweetland, headlined a disappointing night for the Republicans at the Double Tree Hotel in Syracuse. Sweetland lost to Democrat Dan Maffei by over 33,000 votes.

A Behind the Scenes Look at a CitrusTV First

Feature
Behind The Scenes at CitrusTV's First Ever Election Special
By: Julia Aubuchon
Contributor, CitrusTV Anchor

It was 9:28 p.m. We were going on-air in two minutes and yet the control room and anchor desk were empty. Look in the newsroom however and there was a different story. There was a visual cacophony as crew members ran around making last minute preparations for what would soon be CitrusTV’s first ever Live Election Special.

But- let’s rewind to the beginning. We began preparing for our Election Special two weeks prior to the historic November 4th night. We needed to plan out exactly how we wanted this 90-minute special to air. For a station run entirely by students, many aspects of this production were completely new to us. We were entering unfamiliar territory with guarded optimism. It started with three: Jaime Sasso, the News Director, Matt Rivers, the Executive Producer and Emily Brandstetter, the other Executive Producer. It soon grew to a team of 42 specially picked students. That’s when I found out that I was asked to anchor the show on election night. Unfortunately for me, I was already scheduled to work at my part-time job that same night from 9:45–3:00 a.m. wanting both a male and female anchor, I agreed to try and find someone to cover my shift.

Meanwhile we needed to breakdown every detail of the show to make sure nothing was missed. We needed to assign someone to make new stingers and a new show opening. We needed to find election music and reporters to make political packages. We needed to figure out how to generate graphics every time polls would close and new figures would be released. What we needed was help.

After skipping classes, spending nights in the station, and living off Starbucks’ triple shot lattes, things began to look like they were coming together. Jaime, Emily, and Matt worked around the clock and we now had 15 reporter packages, a new introduction and graphics, and the skeleton of a preliminary rundown. In addition, we planned to have a reporter live in the newsroom giving local election updates, two senior political analysts to breakdown national poll results, and a reporter in Watson Theater where we’d have a viewing party and a room full of students acting as our focus group.

The Sunday before the election we had our last group meeting and I had found someone to cover my shift on Tuesday – but only until midnight. Because we share the station with the Entertainment and Sports departments, we had to determine the times we could use the computers and editing suites to finalize our stories and complete the rundown.
Then, the day arrived. Working endlessly, time flew by. Reporters, editors and producers would work for 10 hours straight before realizing they hadn’t eaten anything or even gone to the bathroom. Crunch time came and the chaos began. It was 45-minutes until show time and Jaime still hadn’t marked her 150-page script. People ran around the station with tunnel vision, so intent on finishing their task, they would accidentally side-swipe people as they made their way by.

It was five minutes now until OTN (The Orange Television Network) would take us live and our Tech Director had just informed us we weren’t getting any audio from our reporter in Watson Theater, which bring us back to where we started. 9:28 p.m. and still no one in the control room or at the anchor desk. Scrambling to get into position and perform a quick mic check I hear the show opening playing in a distance. Our floor director continues to relay messages to us from the control room about what to do now that we have to cut the Watson shot from every block of the show. Little did I know I would soon be ad-libbing almost an entire 90 minutes. I’d receive commands seconds before going on camera like, “say something about the recent poll results – wait, no, – toss it to Shannon” – needless to say it was quite the adrenaline rush.

Despite not having the reporter in Watson, I truly believe we did the best with what we had. We had a CitrusTV correspondent call in from Washington D.C. for a telephone update. We had our Watson Reporter tape segments and run them into the control room to look like live shots. We had updated graphics of red and blue state maps as the figures came in. We had done everything we could. By the end of it all, everyone was in a state of disbelief that we actually pulled it off. Applause broke out and tears were even shed – probably the results of high emotions and a lack of sleep. Thinking back, the night was a blur. I don’t remember much about the show or what was even said. As I left the station and headed to work people were celebrating Obama’s victory in the streets and I knew back at the station they weren’t just celebrating the new president, but the show they had worked so hard to produce.

*Photo Courtesy of CitrusTV.net

Election Day Tradition- Spaghetti Dinner

Local Election Tradition Keeps Candidates and Voters Happy, but Not Hungry

By: Akiko Matsumoto
November 6, 2008

The dish of the day was Italian spaghetti and meatballs, but it was the good ole' spirit of Americana that brought the hungry. At Our Lady of Pompei in Syracuse, local candidates and residents united to continue the nearly sixty-year-old tradition at the Annual Election Day Spaghetti.

"12 or 15 years since we've been coming to this spaghetti lunch," said Congressional candidate Dale Sweetland. "It's a place for everyone. All parties and all candidates." Many diners, like Sweetland, said though the spaghetti is delicious, it is the camaraderie and tradition of the event that keep them coming back. Here, there is no room for political talk at the table. "We kind of get to the point on Election Day." Sweetland said. "We run into each other here, and we visit and we say, 'Hey, things are done.' It's all we can do and let's get on with it and say let's see who wins."

Organizers started weeks in advance to prepare for this event. Ingredients included 7,000 meatballs, 300 gallons of sauce, and 640 pounds of pasta. At the end of the night, the empty plates and full banks proved the time and effort put into this event had paid off.

Parishioner Lucy Paris is still calculating the numbers, but has said that funds raised at are at a record high this year. Earlier in the day, she had suggested the presidential election may increase the success of the event.

She was right.

The national voter turnout was high and the banks were flush.

Profits raised for this event benefit Our Lady of Pompei Church and the Cathedral Academy at Pompei, where the money is spent on much-needed items for students.

*photo courtesy of News 10 Now, Syracuse Cable News

A Speech to Remember

OPINION
Presidential Acceptance Speech: One For the History Books

November 6, 2008
By: Kevin Kern
Contributor, Web Editor

When the sun rose on November 5th, 2008- Barack Obama had already been named the president elect for a matter of hours. In the wake of a historical election night that seemed to be over before it began, America had elected her first African American president. With gracious ease and a quick bow-out, John McCain had given his concession speech, and the projected president-elect was primed to take the worldwide victory stage from Chicago's Grant Park. With close to 100,000 watching live from the windy city, and millions more watching at home, Illinois Senator Barack Obama addressed his nation for the first, of what is sure to be many times.

In a speech that lasted more than twenty minutes, Obama praised his supporters, and nay-sayers alike. In this speech, in this moment, the nation may have seen a glimpse of what is to come from his leadership, if at all is like his character. Carrying himself like a president- walking tall, strong stance, and unwavering attention to the people, he thanked his fellow candidate-"Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves"- as if trying to showcase the gentlemen standing before the masses. With poise and poignant clarity, Obama made clear that change is coming to America, someway, somehow. Noting that now, the real work begins, and the real hardships fall. The coverage of images picked up by many different news outlets seemed almost surreal- a hazy and backlit stage, engulfed by people at every angle, the City of Chicago in the background twinkling like stars, and one-man- a black man- at the center of it all- the superstar of a nation. Echoing the oratorical likes of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., Obama's speech was not over the top, not too dramatic- it was merely profound as the diversity of people in this country. It was something to appreciate, while at the same time something to remember for its shear historicity.

Much like the after effects of the events of September 11, 2001, people seemed to share some sense of national pride- not necessarily in the candidates who won or lost, but in the system that makes this country great. Barack Obama may be our next president, but as this election proves, it is the Democratic system set by our forefathers that deserves the biggest compliment. For now, our republic is working, and individual faith in the political system may be renewed. Candidates matter- but so does the system that puts them in office. One needs only to look at the heart of what makes this country tick to understand how (like on Tuesday) America is, has, and always will be, ready for change.

*Photo Courtesy of www.hometownannapolis.com

Post Election Coverage Follow-Up: November 6, 2008

Keep checking in throughout the day as N-C-C News teams and reporters from RTN 564.2 post stories about what went on during election night 2008.