I had the joy of being in Washington for election night – so got to experience the giant Obama love-in that spontaneously gathered outside the Whitehouse after the California results came through. The Whitehouse celebrations were a kinda mix between a Take That concert – crowds of adoring fans screaming uncontrollably – and a football match – with choruses of chants.
The chants and screams seemed largely dictated by the presence of TV cameras. Every time a camera light was switched on the baying crowds erupted on cue with either “Yes we did” or “U – S – A”.
To borrow a cliche the atmosphere really was electric – and given that 90% of thousands of people gathered were under 20, it was clear why Obama won – having successfully mobilised the youth vote.
Whilst out in the US before the election (I was there for a couple of weeks) it was interesting to see US campaigning in action – especially the commercialism of the whole event. I’ll be posting a couple of more posts on this over the coming week . . .
