(Update: Welcome DJtv to the ranks of new OurPDX authors! I’m happy to credit her for writing this post; you may already know her as @DJtv on Twitter…)
It all started with the drums.
I’ve always been a sucker for drums, since I was a child twirling baton in the seventies, following the drum major’s every move. I may have lacked the sequined outfit and flying metal stick, but on election night, I went on the march of a lifetime.
I’m not sure where it started, but I joined them outside the Benson Hotel, a.k.a. Republican Headquarters.
Pots, pans, drums, whistles, everyone was clapping or banging to the beat of the drum.
O-bam-a. O-bam-a. O-bam-a. Again and again, until the drum major stopped the crowd and started them again with “Yes we can! Yes we can!” Then he rounded them up and crossed Broadway – heading South towards Pioneer Courthouse Square. And I couldn’t help but join them.
The walk was slow, and peaceful, hopeful and wonderful. Adults dancing like idiots, so excited they could barely contain themselves with a happiness that exuded from everyone. Flashes and iPones, camera phones and video cameras. Everyone wanted to capture the moment.
And then the group started to swell. And swell. And swell. More and more people filed out of hotels and restaurants along Broadway to join the group.
And then we were the sidewalk and one lane. And then we were the sidewalk and two lanes. We stopped in front of the Marriott, and then in front of the Hotel Vintage Plaza. The staff cheered and clapped for us, and more and more guests ran out to join us. And then we had taken over so much of Broadway only one lane of cars could pass, and the cars driving by were honking and screaming, and waving President Obama signs.
I’ve never seen anything like it, and I don’t think I ever will again. There was no media there that I knew of, no cameras to show off for other than our own. It was simple and beautiful, jubilant and somehow pure.
No matter who you may have voted for, I think we all have to agree that this reaction was unique and special. It wouldn’t have happened in a red state if McCain had won, or even here if Hillary had been the nominee.
We got split by Max, and then joined again at Pioneer Courthouse Square and people flooded the square. You couldn’t have told anyone there that they weren’t going to hear a candidate speak. And when the band finished, someone in the crowd started the Star Spangled Banner, so everyone sang along.
To whomever organized the idea and the drummers, thank you for a beautiful evening.
As we walked away, Portland Police were finally there, marveling at it as much as we were. I politely asked, and they said they were just there to monitor, that they wouldn’t break up the fun unless they had to. They didn’t. Then came the news vehicles, a little late for the action, but reporting on it nonetheless.
We walked back towards our car, and found some latecomers to the party trying to find where it was, as I pointed them to Pioneer Courthouse Square, someone leaned out of their car and yelled, “Yeah, more like Red Square.”
No, my friend — on election night, it was a very Blue Square.
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Thank you, unknown (yet) contributor!
I was there! It was awesome. I can’t remember the last time I participated in singing the National Anthem (that I wasn’t at a baseball game), and feeling so good about it.
It did happen in red states. That’s what was remarkable. These kinds of celebrations took place all over the country.
I wish I had been there. That sounds like an unforgettable experience on an unforgettable night.
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