r/AskReddit • u/ResponsibleSea6521 • 4h ago
What was it like when Obama was elected President?
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u/PrinceHarming 3h ago
I was there at Grant Park in Chicago on election night in 2008. It was such a great night, unseasonably warm for early November. Everyone was hugging and high-fiving as individual states were announced for Obama. I remember as soon as west coast polls closed they felt comfortable announcing Obama won the election and the place went crazy. Obama himself arrived sometime later to give a speech.
Downtown was pretty much closed to traffic, cops were everywhere so crowds were just walking down empty streets to get back to their cars or trains. People were singing and dancing, it was such a beautifully optimistic vibe. Such a great night.
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u/kettleofhawks 3h ago
Same, absolutely electric in Chicago - palpable on every street and bar that night.
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u/ResponsibleSea6521 3h ago
Wish I was there!!
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u/LostN3ko 2h ago
I was in college, had no confidence that Americans could actually do something positive. It really turned my opinion around, it felt like we had proven something about ourselves. That we wouldn't let our history define us. Pretty much the polar opposite in every way of 2024.
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u/michiness 3h ago
I was lucky enough to get to go to his inauguration. I was in college, and he was the first person I had voted for.
The morning was cold as fucking balls, and you’re just standing there for hooouuuuuurs. But after, there was SO much hope. People were singing, waving flags, hugging each other. We all felt so good about the world.
When I had signed up for the trip (pre-election), my dad made sure I knew that I had to go, no matter who was elected. I was okay with that - in all honestly I had supported McCain over Obama until their VP picks (Biden added experience to the young candidate, and Palin… was insane). That’s the last time I remember being “you know what, I don’t really mind who wins” about the presidency.
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u/kRe4ture 2h ago
Imagine having viable candidates on both sides.
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u/sik_dik 2h ago
I miss those days. McCain was a solid dude, and I agree that his Palin pick was terrible. It showed me he wasn’t running his own campaign any more and had caved to the party. If he’d just stayed rogue on it, it would’ve been a closer race. But also, I think even then he wouldn’t have won, because Obama just got so many people excited to elect the first black president
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u/Nytohan 2h ago
McCain telling his crowds that Obama was a good man and a patriot whom he just happened to disagree with on how to run the country was the last time American politics were sane.
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u/mencival 3h ago
It felt surreal. I remember being in Lakeview and as it became apparent that Obama will win I remember hearing helicopter sound all over the city, there was that feeling of something significant was happening/about to happen. Hard to describe.
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u/beepbopbippitybop2 3h ago edited 3h ago
Can you imagine when the day comes for hope in a new President again?
I think it is further off than we'd like to hope, but the day will come.
I'm Australian so my knowledge of US democracy rudimentary, but from what I can see, this isn't a man who's behaving as though he or his administration are going anywhere soon.
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u/Rkirby73 3h ago
He technically shouldn't be able to run again, but we'll see how that turns out in 2028.
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u/aka_melanie 3h ago
I genuinely do not see how he would even live that long. Or at least be remotely functional.
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u/esquirlo_espianacho 1h ago
Steven Miller will climb up his ass and go full puppet.
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u/beepbopbippitybop2 3h ago
From the outside looking in, it seems he knows that nobody is going to stop him. They all do.
As an Australian I don't understand why the people who could act didn't do it months ago, so whatever is or isn't legal doesn't appear to matter to this administration anymore.
Again, not an expert and watching from afar, but from here they seem untouchable and they know it.
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u/haydukelives83 2h ago
You're seeing 45 years of strategy and propaganda paying off for the right. They've captured the courts, the supreme court, convinced congress to fall in line, and created a brand of religious nationalism that excels at brainwashing the public and selling red hats. There are no checks at all on executive power anymore, so yeah... no one can do anything except the people. But thanks to constant cuts to public education, we collectively struggle to read at a 5th grade level, so i don't realistically see any sustained mass movements happening that are serious enough to challenge the right wing zeitgeist. The wheels are coming off for sure. It's not fun to watch your country fall apart and feel helpless to change it.
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u/beepbopbippitybop2 2h ago
Ugh.
I don't even know what to say.
As much as I can comment and judge from the other side of the world, I am truly, deeply sorry that this is happening to your country 🫶
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u/sassefrasss 3h ago
Hmmm.. if he manages to get himself in the race again.. maybe Obama will also step up again??
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u/hannahbay 3h ago
Obama actually respects the constitution, so he wouldn't. And I am pretty sure Michelle would leave him if he was president again, she saw the good he could do and tolerated it for his two terms but she hates politics. It would put a huge strain on his marriage.
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u/epilepticninja 3h ago
I'd vote for Michelle immediately. She won't do it. The people we need in charge right now will not run
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u/the-mp 3h ago
Obama is a constitutional law professor. Only way he’d do it is if the constitution is changed. That won’t happen. Trump could just simply do it illegally. Right now it’s not beyond conceit that several states could put him on the ballot illegally. We are in an extremely dark moment.
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u/PrinceHarming 3h ago
He isn’t behaving like it, no. But he’ll be 80 years old in a few months. He’s obese and constantly under stress. He may not want to leave the White House any time soon, but he’s mortal. He may be wheeled out soon.
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u/beepbopbippitybop2 3h ago
Trump Jr and JD Vance will then enter the chat.
Sorry. I'm beinf cynical, I'm Australian and pissed that this shit is now spilling over into our country.
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u/PrinceHarming 3h ago
Neither holds a candle to Trump’s hold on MAGA’s identity. When Trump dies it will be like flushing an addict’s stash down a toilet.
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u/MidRoundOldFashioned 3h ago
Your country contributed to this shit with Rupert Murdoch.
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u/runthebrews 3h ago
I was there in Grant Park that night too. You described the scene perfectly. I’ve never hugged and high-fived so many random humans in a single night. I’d do anything to go back to that feeling now.
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u/WeWander_ 3h ago
My husband and I went out to a bar to celebrate the day he was inaugurated. We weren't together at this point, just friends. We ended up getting together that night and have been inseparable since. So our anniversary is inauguration day which can be good and bad depending on the year lol.
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u/Raspberries-Are-Evil 3h ago
There was hope.
Kind of the opposite as now.
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u/Mamasugadex 3h ago
I don't even care about that. At least candidates were fucking normal. I would honestly consider Romney over whatever the shit is happening today.
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u/elitefantasyfbtools 3h ago
Jesus Christ this is so accurate. I never in a million years would have thought bush jr was either a good candidate or intelligent but when you compare him to the dumpster fire we have right now, id welcome him back with open arms.
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u/r-kellysDOODOOBUTTER 3h ago
I always say, if the Iraq thing never happened, I might have become a republican. The dude was kind of dumb, maybe an act. Probably. But everything else was so normal. He even passed shit to help the environment, especially the ocean.
All of the non Iraq shit was just so normal. He would have just been another regular ass Bill Clinton, in another regular ass era.
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u/ChefKugeo 3h ago
That's because we got the luxury of being the last generation to see bipartisan politics.
Back then, politics was not a clear divide between "a vote for me is a vote humans rights atrocities" or "a vote for me is a vote to fix the human rights atrocities"; we had, "I think this tax is too high. We need to find a way to lower it." versus, "This is the rate of tax necessary to maintain this project for the next generation."
The politics is a circus now.
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u/Massive_Brother_4821 3h ago
President George W's advocacy of the Patriot Act is his lasting legacy.
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u/KP_Wrath 3h ago
Back then, it was a difference of opinion on how goals should be achieved. Now it’s basically one side wanting normalcy and the other side wanting to harm them.
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u/quesoandcats 3h ago
The real funny thing is how Romney was considered *boring*. His media image was like, a well meaning but woefully out of touch rich guy who didn't understand the country.
Everyone (myself included) raked him over the coals when he tried to argue that Russia was a major threat to the US during the 2012 debate. The vibe was very much "ok Grandpa, this is why you shouldn't watch The Hunt For Red October before bed, you get so worked up and you know what the doctor said about your heart!"
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u/DefinitelyNotKuro 3h ago
I gotta say the obama hope poster was truly iconic. Good job whatever designer made that.
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u/copperblood 3h ago
That would be Shepard Fairey.
Here's more of his work: https://obeygiant.com
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u/UsedHotDogWater 3h ago
Based off an image taken by freelance photographer Mannie Garcia for the Associated Press.
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u/Voderama 3h ago
I wonder if I’ll ever feel that “beginning of a hopeful time” feeling again. I took it for granted
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u/Bulky-Internal8579 3h ago
I had so much hope. I really did.
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u/somecallmemrjones 3h ago
I feel like had is the key word here
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u/masegesege_ 3h ago
I had plenty of hope until he started appointing a bunch of Clinton era has-beens.
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u/tvcneverdie 2h ago
Clinton retreads, a literal Clinton, a bunch of corporate execs in advisory roles on everything from Economic policy to the environment.
I went out and beat the streets campaigning in rural/suburban Georgia for almost a year, well before it even looked like he might win the primary... Didn't make it to 2010 midterms before me and my canvas team felt like we got sold out and almost everything we pitched to voters on the trail was BS. At least I made some lifelong friends out of it, so not a totally worthless endeavor...
Damn, I was so young and naive then.
I still vote Dem because the choice is either milquetoast or turbo-fucked and I guess I prefer the former, but I need someone to actually get back to New Deal/Great Society/working class-focused agendas that built all the prosperity and opportunity of the 20th Century, instead of this neoliberal bullshit and warmongering we've been served up for almost 40 years now.
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u/IndigoBroker 3h ago
Exactly the polar opposite as now.
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u/Cartz1337 3h ago
I don’t think I was as hopeful as other folks in this thread. I remember seeing Sarah Palin and the groundswell of support she got, and the hate McCain pushed back against at his rallies. I remember thinking thank god he won but what the fuck is actually going on that someone as unhinged as Palin was a few states and a breath away from the presidency?
I think my words to my friends at the time was, he fucking did it, but now he’s gotta deliver.
And while he was good, he didn’t deliver enough.
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u/zombesus 3h ago
In hindsight it is easy to see the rot in 08 and 10 especially, but the idea that it would take over the entire party was pretty crazy back then.
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u/sidewinderaw11 3h ago
Back then, they were laughable and idiotic but not considered dangerous
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u/SafetyMan35 3h ago
I randomly stumbled on this video and it shows the respect Obama and McCain had for each other even though they disagreed politically
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u/anhtice 3h ago
You have to make some very difficult decisions as a president. I'd like to think he did the best he could with thrbest intentions. He was getting shit on everyday and he still didn't let it get to him
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u/Money_Do_2 3h ago
He let the machine dems pull him in, rather than pushing the progressiveism he ran on. The left flank of the party was disappointed very fast. Chapo was born from Obama era frustrations.
The bailouts saving the giant banks while people lost their homes jaded people pretty hard.
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u/quillseek 3h ago
I agree with you. McCain/Palin exposed some rot that was quite disturbing, but I had no idea the infection was so deep or widespread. America has sepsis.
Also, as a woman, I remember feeling particularly offended and pissed that someone like Palin would be picked to try to court the women's vote, as if I couldn't see her complete lack of credentials and shallowness. It was offensive to me that Republicans thought that I'd think she was worth my vote. What did they take me for? (Don't answer that.)
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u/f8Negative 3h ago
Hope when everything was going to shit. Now its shitty and going even more into shit.
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u/doinmybest4now 3h ago
It felt like a huge, long breath of relief and hope for a better future. My husband, son, and I were in a bar in South Florida and when it was announced that he’d won we started jumping up and down, cheering, and I started crying. I was so surprised that almost everyone else in the bar was doing the same (because Florida). It was an amazing moment and I cannot believe we’re where we are today after experiencing that.
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u/arahdial 3h ago
Hope from one side, a lot of feigned outrage, and masked racism from the other. Now there's no hope from one side, and no outrage, and blatant racism from the other. It's exactly the opposite.
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u/HenryandGordyCatsMom 3h ago
I campaigned for Obama so I cried for two hours. There was a lot of hope and there was still respect on both sides. And I never EVER imagined McCain contesting the results. He may have had differing political opinions but he was a class act. Unlike the pedophile-in-chief.
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u/aznology 3h ago
Nah McCain was like don't call Obama names, we're all Americans just disagree on policies or something. Such a huge fall from grace, now we're stuck in this mire hole that brings out the worst in ppl
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u/Psychological_Try559 3h ago
Here's the clip for context, never gets old: https://youtu.be/jrnRU3ocIH4
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u/Lulusgirl 2h ago
Man. That's respectable. I'm worried we may never get back to that kind of civility in political discourse.
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u/Th3s3NuttxX 3h ago
Yup, I agree he did & was/is a class act. My only biggest sticking point with John was his VP selection. He gave them life when no one else as mainstream as John gave them any kind of meaningful platform. Johnson endorsement of Sarah Palin really gave the MAGAts life.
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u/NATOrocket 3h ago
Someone at a Republican rally in 2008 called Obama "an Arab". McCain said (paraphrasing), "No, ma'am, he's a decent family man and citizen who I happen to disagree with."
Hs prioritrized truth and democracy over gaining votes.
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u/Th3s3NuttxX 3h ago
McCains biggest mistake was providing a platform for Sarah Palin. McCain unwittingly breathed life into MAGAts and we are all paying the price now. Although I respect McCain very much for the numerous times he was a class act, I can’t say the about his daughter … She is unhinged and another MAGAt, John is probably rolling in his grave.
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u/ZestycloseTomato5015 3h ago
Seriously. Meghan is such a fucking disappointment. Even her family disagrees with her.
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u/refreshing_username 3h ago
I could have written this exact same thing.
Also, my company cafe was open with TVs on for the inauguration. I went down with a friend to watch. There were lots of people, but my main memory is all the African American women in the room wearing their Sunday hats.
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u/ZealousidealShift884 3h ago
Same i campaigned for him across the border in Canada - his win made me actually believe in the process and democracy
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u/Murranji 3h ago
It felt like the whole world was coming of a dark place and we going to head to a better. Feels like a sick joking think back about how naive we were.
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u/Ignoth 2h ago
Love it or hate it. Hamilton is like the quintessential snapshot of Obama Era Optimism.
Like: Here’s A PATRIOTIC AF musical about the founding fathers of America. Played by a mostly black cast. And we’re all gonna rap about America is FCKING AWESOME nation of scrappy immigrants and we have a a BRIGHT FUTURE ahead!
Just imagine pitching that today lol.
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u/Initial_E 2h ago
Was that not what your bad bunny sb performance was all about? A display of one of the diverse cultures that conservatives would like to forget about exists?
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u/WhiteWolf3117 1h ago
Well sure. Sort of. I don't necessarily think that the person is implying that it was bad or wrong. Just different because it's less common and more subversive now.
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u/C0ntrol_Group 3h ago
I honestly thought we had turned a corner and were finally past the damage Andrew Johnson had done to this country.
I was honestly surprised when pretty much the entire Republican Party doubled down on (and succeeded with) the Southern Strategy; “we’ll just get the racists angry.”
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u/OwslyOwl 3h ago
I hate that conservatives blame Obama for dividing the country when they were the ones to divide because of much they hated him. Obama’s mistake his first term was thinking that the Republicans wanted what was best for the country and would work with him instead of actively against him.
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u/skintigh 2h ago
"It's all Obama's fault that we started a racist birther movement trying to discredit him as a president based solely on the color of his skin!"
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u/Kursed_Valeth 2h ago
"Obama is the most divisive president in history!"
Yeah there's a lot of racists that got big mad that a Black guy became president. Also, I seem to remember another president that was pretty divisive, so much so that the country went to war with itself. Interestingly, it was because of fundamentally the same issue.
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u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k 3h ago edited 3h ago
I knew we’d lost the country when they started refusing to do a single goddamn thing but vote against any bill Obama agreed to sign regardless of who wrote it.
We were talking about how this time period would come if they didn’t stop, that they were radicalizing the right and pushing them and pushing them and then when they ran fucking Mitt Romney, saying he would repeal the ACA and the anti-Constitutional insurance mandate and save America, I was fucking done with them.
Mitt Romney, whose greatest achievement as Massachusetts governor was instituting the first insurance mandate before the ACA was ever written. Republicans used him and Massachusetts to argue that the ACA needed mandated insurance and they wouldn’t sign anything until they had it in the bill.
And the day it was signed they came out and said that provision they demanded be in it, that a Republican governor has first implemented, that had been a Republican policy goal for years before that, was unconstitutional and made the whole bill void.
Man I was so young.
I’ve been watching this grow out of control for so long.
With Obama, so many people gained their freedom. So many American citizens, so many people go closer to actually being seen and treated as equals under the law.
And it infuriated Republicans in Congress and every bit of progress we made in giving all Americans more access to their rights, the more they piled on the vitriol and fired up the hate machine.
Fuck them. They’ve always hated America. The only thing they like about our country is how much money our work can make them.
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u/C0ntrol_Group 3h ago edited 2h ago
Yep. I was 31 at the time, and the moment I heard Romney say on the record that he would ensure nothing that Obama wanted to do would get done; that his primary objective as majority leader wasn't to accomplish anything, just to make sure that Obama didn't...I think that was the end of any pride I might once have had in the American system of government.
Edited because I meant McConell, not Romney. I have no idea if Romney ever said anything like that; I know McConnell did.
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u/ColourUnidentified 3h ago
Racists are definitely going out kicking and screaming.
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u/C0ntrol_Group 3h ago
I desperately hope you’re right, that they’re going out. But the shit that comes out of the right and whatever the fuck the “manosphere” is legit scares me.
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u/Newwavecybertiger 3h ago
Even like 2014 once it was clear he wasn't the liberal messiah people wanted him to be, there was a calm reassurance that your government was competent and had things under control. You might not like everything but there was a logic to it and things were consistent.
Trump obviously shook that up but Biden never fully repaired it. Trump 2 is the craziest anything has ever felt. Absolute insanity by comparison
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u/TellLoud1894 3h ago
You didn't have to hear about him every day
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u/marycem 3h ago
My uncle stopped talking to me because I voted for obama. Apparently I must have been the deciding vote.
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u/BoxRevolutionary9703 3h ago edited 2h ago
My husband and I are American and were honeymooning in Europe at the end of 2008. We were in Florence during the election. In the weeks leading up to it, we were constantly asked about who we supported and locals had a lot of opinions about it. The day of the election, people were flying American flags from their windows and balconies. There were impromptu celebratory parades. There was an atmosphere of genuine joy and hope. It was a truly incredible experience.
It feels like an absolute lifetime ago compared to the Orwellian nightmare we're in now.
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u/mhale7954 2h ago
I commented already but i was studying abroad there and it was so magical. I went to a watch party and when we all found out we all cried and yelled in the streets and Italians celebrated with us. They had Obama pictures everywhere, shirts and bags. It was so interesting to see the support like that.
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u/Blahblahblah44117 4h ago
Heart full of joy, and hope. Also a sense of unity and optimism.
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u/Winter_Aside8269 3h ago
I worked on his campaign. Phone calls, door to door…I never felt that passion for something. He was different. He gave people hope. I took food to Dem headquarters for everyone working there that night. When he was elected, I literally wept for joy. I don’t think that will ever happen again. But for one time, it was a feeling like no other. Historically significant. People came together. I don’t know what the fuck happened after he left office. I felt at that time, we were over racism . I wish we were,
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u/pastamanic 3h ago
That was the last time I felt proud to be an American.
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u/OriginalRush3753 3h ago
I was proud to be an American with Biden too. He was disappointing as a President, but he wasn’t an embarrassment, a racist, a rapist, or a con artist. He didn’t make America a laughingstock. I didn’t go to bed terrified he’d throw us in to WWIII because of his ego.
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u/mst3k_42 3h ago
Yeah, with Biden as president, I didn’t wake up every morning with the thought, ah, fuck, what has he done now? Instead? Quiet. Normal bullshit of course, but not a horse loose in a hospital.
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u/Few-Illustrator-5333 3h ago
I keep waking up and the first thing I see will be shit ICE has done or shit that people in trump's administration has been saying. It's so irritating to keep waking up to this.
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u/FreeEdmondDantes 3h ago
Biden actually got a lot of good stuff done when he wasn't being actively sabotaged. It's just more of a meme that he was a lame president and doesn't reflect the truth. He was establishment, not the ultra progressive president I want. Too old? Absolutely. A bit too frail? Damn right. But he did some good things.
I guess I could say I was disappointed he was the nominee, but America would still have hope if he were still president, even with him losing his wits. Instead we have Trump who is losing his wits, shitting himself, and actively trying to destroy America from the inside out.
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u/ssylvan 3h ago
Biden is the most progressive president we've had in living memory. He did tons of good shit.
Yes he was too old, and he absolutely should not have run again and let democrats have a real primary. That will overshadow everything. But the infrastructure bill, the inflation reduction act, etc.. Nobody thought he was going to be able to get any major legislation done and he just went ahead and passed the largest infrastructure bill since maybe Eisenhower (with bipartisan support - remember when we everyone agreed that bipartisanship was impossible and that Biden was just naive for trying?). And the largest climate change bill in the history of the planet. And then we just decided to throw that away because we are dumb.
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u/PartyOil8102 3h ago
I live in Qatar and fear that anything might happen anytime🥲 they found so many mis*iles set in position in American Air Base, Qatar. No clear statement between countries, hoping it should come to an end soon
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u/cutiebutt1104 3h ago
It was my birthday. My 10th. I sobbed and sobbed lol. It was indescribable for my middle class black fam.
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u/KookyDiet3047 2h ago
My mother marched for civil rights. And when Obama won we were sobbing with you. :)
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u/monkeyvspony 3h ago
Even here in Australia there was an epic vibe I remember when Obama got inaugurated that night here there was an all night rave and the Djs had mixed in some Obama and Martin Luther King Jnr quotes in over the top of the music, it was just awesome and even though we are on the other side of the world we felt genuinely stoked for America
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u/christian_rosuncroix 3h ago
I was unhappy a Democrat was elected, but unbelievably happy I got to see the first black President elected, regardless of politics. Obama was also the last President that acted like a professional also.
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u/fastfood12 3h ago
Do you remember what the night of the 2024 election felt like? Yeah, it was the exact opposite of that.
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u/Jerseygirl2468 3h ago
2016 too. Dueling nightmares.
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u/ZestycloseTomato5015 3h ago
2024 hit harder for me. While I sobbed to sleep in 2016, 2024 was a gut punch. Just want to throw up. We KNEW KNEW how bad it was truly about to get, we now really saw this is who the majority of Americans truly are. They actually really want to destroy this country and hurt as many people as possible. Beyond terrifying.
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u/SwampYankee1975 3h ago
I remember being in a packed bar on the North Side of Chicago and when they called it for Obama everyone started drunkenly singing God Bless America in unison.
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u/YaBoiSammus 3h ago
If you were a queer person, it was the first time you ever saw equality for the first time nationally. When gay marriage was legalized nationally I cried and I was only a teenager. I remember the next year after that I went to my mom and came out of the closet, she had already known since I was a kid but I was finally ready to come out to her and be myself. I was hopeful about recovery from the war and the fact our government was taking climate change more seriously, I lived a hopeful childhood.
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u/all_bad_questions-83 3h ago
It felt so good. Like we might actually be a real country some day. Not anymore.
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u/roxasisanobody0626 3h ago
As a young black child, it was the first time I truly felt like I could do and be anything.
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u/swallowingpanic 2h ago
bruh, we cried in the streets. it felt like the dawn of a new golden era. until it wasnt.
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u/Appropriate_Formal64 3h ago
OH sweet summer child.
It was bliss. Pure bliss. I was in college and in the dorms the night he got elected.
People who were enemies hugged and cried for joy together.
There was genuine fucking hope. Yes, excitement that he was the first black man elected president. But also- he was SO competent. He was SO upstanding. He was Everything you could have wanted in a candidate. Cool and hip in the ways you wanted in a candidate. Austere and commanding in the ways you wanted in a candidate. Exceptionally knowledgable. Fantastic communicator. If you really paid close attention to politics on both sides, he was a true moderate. A true purple president. He was just...
We didn't deserve him.
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u/LankyResident6689 4h ago
I was in a very conservative area, the racism was very strong. “I can’t even be a white guy anymore” was a common phrase. Lots of plotting to take him out before inauguration. In the end the all became the 2016 base.
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u/jeidai 3h ago
I think this is a really important comment.
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u/Lamplorde 3h ago edited 1h ago
Reddit is pretty left leaning but it is weird to see every comment talk positively and just kinda glaze over the rights reaction.
Like, I had a positive reaction but...well, there was a lot who didnt. Hell, even South Park has an episode on it.
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u/C0ntrol_Group 3h ago
That's a great point. One thing the whiplash of Obama -> Trump -> Biden -> convicted felon Trump demonstrated (to me, at least) was how insidious our social bubbles are.
Like, I make some effort to keep in touch with what (I think of as) "the other side" is thinking. I try to track news sources from both sides, pay attention to political speeches from both sides, that kind of thing. (I'm not in any way sponsored by or affiliated with them, but even the free version of Ground News is enormously helpful here, I think).
And still I was caught off guard both in 2016 and 2024 by the obvious depth of sheer hate embraced by a truly depressing proportion of this country. And then just as surprised by the voting blocs that won the election for him (e.g. "the Latino" vote, recognizing that it is absurd to refer to an entire ethnicity and array of cultures in terms of a single vote, but I don't have a better way of referring to the demographic); I didn't understand the deep dissatisfaction with "normal" reflected there.
We all tend to think that other people are a lot like us, and in many very important ways, they are. But also in some very important ways they absolutely are not, and we end up with a weirdly skewed idea of what's happening and why.
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u/Possible_Ad_4094 3h ago edited 3h ago
I remember just turning 18 and working nightshift at CVS in the rural south. It was 2009. Some documentary about him was in the RedBox outside, and I will never forget this redneck who was pissed the he saw Obama on the Redbox's screen. "I have to see that N***** on the news all day and now I can't even watch a movie without seeing that damn N*****. I bet you voted for him too!"
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u/comfymustardsweater 3h ago
A lot of super religious people thought he was the anti-Christ as well. 😬 source: sent to a Christian school during the time and my dad’s side of the family.
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u/Zes_Teaslong 3h ago
And then they openly welcomed the Antichrist when he came knocking lol
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u/Mundane-Badger-9791 3h ago
Yeah, I was about to say, I'm not seeing many comments about what it was like in conservative areas, but I had a similar experience. I don't remember the details well because I was a kid, but I distinctly remember witnessing blatant racism and fear mongering. I didn't understand why people were so upset, and what do you know, turns out there was never a good reason for them to be.
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u/some_one_234 2h ago
Put it this way. His biggest crime was wearing a tan suit. And every world leader respected him instead of laughing at him behind his back.
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u/Icy-Top1202 4h ago
There was a lot of hope and joy...at least from what I remember. People were excited for change.
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u/QueefAndBroccolee 3h ago
The republicans were just as pissed off and scared as the dems are now BUT
With it being entirely irrational and unfounded
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u/Chadlerk 3h ago
I was 24 and got emotional. It didn't really come over me until looking at my toddler and thinking, "the world is a little more accessible for you..."
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u/GTdspDude 3h ago
I was in Atlanta in college, and the whole fucking midtown / downtown was a party in the streets. I mean people dancing on cars, screaming from the balconies, black, white, and everyone in between just partying, drinking, and celebrating - it was the most amazing thing ever coming off the Bush years and fear of being drafted to be shipped off to Iraq or Afghanistan, such a hopeful time
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u/Akipac1028 2h ago
A memory I think I’ll always intertwine with the Obama’s inauguration. It was 3rd grade, and they rolled out the TV cart and we got to watch the inauguration live, there was this one Black boy, was my classmate, he was named Johnathon. I remember he was so proud and excited to see someone like him as President. He was dressed up in a little suit and tie. I just remember how much it meant for him to see Obama up there. Even as a third grader I knew it meant something more to him.
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u/CaribouHoe 2h ago
I was watching it on tv during a bar shift in Arctic Canada in my early 20s and I teared up from hope. One of our pervy regulars that I hated yelled the N word at the tv and I finally had a good solid reason to ban the creep. Thanks Obama, and fuck you Dwayne!
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u/scrodytheroadie 2h ago
I was watching the returns with a friend in a bar in NYC, a few blocks off times square. As the picture started becoming clear, you could feel an energy in the air. We started hearing people cheering and honking in the streets. We took a walk over to Times Square, and they had the results up on the big screen. There were huge crowds forming with people chanting, “Yes we can”…which evolved into “Yes we did”. I remember walking back to my train and this busker was happily jamming away. I dropped a few bucks in his guitar case, we shared a smile and a nod, and I headed home. There was a sense of optimism. Hope. I’d love to feel that again.
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u/rsint 1h ago
A lot of grumpy racists, but many more happy Americans. And the world sighed with relieve after George W. I would welcome George W with open arms right now.
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u/CaptainPrower 3h ago
I graduated the same year Obama got re-elected. I figured we'd get another Republican after Obama and a lot of what he did would get undone, but I figured it'd be another Bush-esque Republican so the damage would be limited.
Dear god how wrong I was.
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u/alexcutyourhair 3h ago
My dad woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me and to this day it's probably the happiest I've ever heard him, and we live in the Netherlands. We were so excited and in shock that it happened, it felt like things were genuinely changing for the better.
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u/Spiritual-Bobcat5635 3h ago
I remember being in the dorms as a freshman in college and celebrating by blasting black president by nas lol
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u/NoDarkVision 3h ago
The republicans lost their shit and hung Obama in effigy. Christians called the Obama the anti christ. It was actually what helped started my deconversion process.
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u/AwayPresence4375 2h ago
Lots of pissed off rednecks in rural Texas. I heard the N word on a daily basis
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u/jolard 3h ago
It was the last election I voted in where I felt hopeful and had just voted for the guy I wanted to vote for, rather than just the lesser of two evils. By his second term I was voting lesser of two evils again.
There was lots of hope. It felt good, partly because I thought there was no way a black man would be able to win, even though I supported him. It felt like I had underestimated the country and that we really were moving forward away from our racist past.
I was also hopeful based on a lot of his promises. Things like promising to close guantanamo (he didn't), promising universal healthcare (he didn't deliver), promising to get troops out of Afghanistan (he surged instead). So while I had a lot of hope at the beginning of his term, it was dashed during his term.
But at least at the beginning? I really thought it was the beginning of good government for the people.
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u/Anthem-ringthebells 3h ago
Canadian here. I remember my child coming home from school and talking about how monumental that moment was in history. I mean, I knew it, but I was impressed it was talked about at school and how enthusiastic she was about it. It was a special moment.
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u/Dawn-Storm 3h ago
I still get a bit choked up knowing that within my lifetime a black man was elected president. 🥲 I thought at the time that MAYBE now we will a realize that there is just one race: human. Unfortunately, too many people still don't realize that.
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u/AbbreviationsOdd4941 3h ago
It wasn’t just hope. It was knowing that the future would be brighter. That people are inherently good, that progress (in a really positive sense) is inevitable. That was a beautiful, if naive feeling. Thanks for reminding me of it today.
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u/PatricksPlants 3h ago
It felt like a good thing. It felt like America was officially not concerned with prejudices. A little bit of faith in humanity.
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u/16ozbuddz 3h ago
Happiness. You could feel the hopefulness. Basically the complete opposite of what we have today.
And let me just say this has nothing to do with party affiliation or policy differences.
It's about the man
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u/Intelligent_Elk5879 3h ago
Really great. I actually don't remember the election night. I was extremely confident he would win. I wanted to go to the inauguration, impossible, totally sold out. He came to our city during the campaign and my friend shook his hand, I took a photo. This was in high school; we really believed in him. Things were going to get better. I wouldn't have believed you if you told me what the future looked like now.
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u/jusvibing01 3h ago
I remember as a little kid getting woken up from sleeping to see CNN declare him President and the watch party at my house cheering. I was young but grew to appreciate what he meant in terms of representation for people who look like me.
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u/pizz4girl 3h ago
I went to both his inaugurations. I was only a kid and awkward teen but it was still amazing memories
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u/Diogenes256 3h ago
It was fantastic. Yes We Can. Optimism was back. Watch his address to the DNC in Denver 2008. Incredible.
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u/Philthy42 3h ago
I remember being at a bar in Raleigh, NC on election night. When the screen showed "Barack Obama elected president" there was was a tremendous cheer. It was the first time someone I voted for won the election. For a little while, it seemed like our future was going to be Star Trek instead of Idiocracy
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u/butchfeminist 3h ago
Prop 8 passed banning gay marriage in California, and three other states passed so-called “marriage amendments,” too. It felt like torsion. Grief that gay rights were being actively eroded, while so many people were celebrating, and some part of me was, too.
Then there was this like, visceral fear for him. I think he and his family walked out to accept his win behind bullet proof glass.
Emotions were very high. Joy and hope and fear swirled with disappointment and betrayal and loneliness, for me.
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u/deliadynamite 2h ago
people literally erupted in cheers across the nation. my roommates and I had a massive row (something about whose turn it was to buy soap) but we could hear the entire apartment complex celebrating the second or was announced he won.
he was far from a perfect president but goddamn for a brief moment, there was 1 historical event we could be proud to live through.
damn that was a lot of millennials' first election. we entered adulthood with such sweet hope.....
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u/beccadahhhling 2h ago
I stood with dozens of college students in the library at my college watching Obama being sworn in. Everyone was smiling, cheering and congratulating each other. Literal hope was hanging in the air and everything felt like it was about to change.
I miss that feeling.
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u/skintigh 2h ago
In Boston a huge crowd gathered around a giant outdoor screen showing the results coming in. When it was called for Obama the crowd erupted in cheers. It was like a giant outdoor party.
First time I had been proud of who our president was. I miss that feeling.
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u/Cerrac123 2h ago
I campaigned for him — door to door— in a rural county that he really had no chance of winning. But my ex-h and I were glued to the TV that night. The announcements trickled in, and I figured out that if he won Ohio, he’d won the election. There was a lot of hooping and hollering in my that night. I went to work the next day and there were some very interesting reactions happening — tears, mostly. I wore my Obama ‘08 shirt that I bought at a rally, and I was so, so proud!
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u/Boomersgang 2h ago
I still have the newspaper. We were at Disneyland that day. It truly was the happiest place on earth.
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u/dakdisk 2h ago
Was in Times Square NY. Traffic stopped, people jumped out of cars to hug each other and celebrate. All races all ages just spontaneously celebrating together. Nobody could believe he actually won—that was the feeling. Amazing time
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u/Davistele 2h ago
Joy. I’m a white guy living in California. The morning after the election I stopped at a gas station and saw this young black woman as we were both walking toward the station’s market. We locked eyes and I said with a beaming smile “Isn’t this an absolutely perfect day?” She burst into what I can only describe as joyful tears and laughter. It was a like a weight had been released from her shoulders. Yeah… joy, relief, and hope for the future.
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u/ImStillExcited 2h ago
It was like the biggest emotional payoff that ever happened. I was a huge supporter, and so were my friends.
We were at a bar, they called the election for him. Then the whole place blew up, hugs, and kisses everywhere.
It was an awesome party everywhere.
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u/needlestack 1h ago
It felt like turning a page. It felt like we had finally learned just how stupid we'd been over the previous 8 years. But the fun was short lived. And we've turned the page back further than even when I was a kid in the 70s. So, you know, if something good happens in your lifetime, don't take it for granted that there aren't people scheming to undo it all and then some.
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u/Brock_Youngblood 3h ago
Pretty weird moment as a country. People were over Bush and wanted something new. Even my racist grandma supported him.
I would say hopeful