Philadelphia VIII - celebration

Even before the result was announced excitement filled the city. As we drove through the centre of town there were about 20 people standing in the central reservation holding Obama signs while everyone honked and hooted as they drove past.

By 11:15, when the result was announced we could hear the honking and cheering from the centre of town, despite being about 10 blocks away, as well as the sound of the helicopters with spotlights which were hovering over the city.

We all got rather weepy listening to various talking heads on how this was a historic night, and even more weepy during Obama's (very sober, and not at all triumphalist) acceptance speech in Grant Park, Chicago.

At 1am as I was being driven home (all this driving! it makes me miss night buses at home) there were still people out, and the odd spontaneous street party going on, although things seemed to have calmed down a little. In Pittsburgh in the university area there was a massive parade at this time in the evening.

I'm looking forward to seeing the final results from Philadelphia and the 36th ward in particular. At present, Obama seems to have won 83% of the Philly vote but I've not seen any reports of levels of turnout. It seemed close to 100% of registered voters in my ward and I'd like to see if that is borne out by the numbers. I'll keep you informed if I ever find out.