New Day

In 2000, I was living in Washington, DC. I spent election night at a huge DNC party at the Mayflower Hotel, where there were young, drunk people everywhere, scarfing up free hors d’oeuvres and watching what seemed like 50 TVs that were stashed on every available surface. The mood was positive and upbeat until Florida flipped for the first time. And then flipped again. That night I couldn’t sleep. I woke up every 15-30 minutes but was too afraid to turn on the TV to find out what had happened. What if I the news said that Bush won? No, thank you--I preferred my state of sleepy, anxious ignorance.

Last night I couldn’t sleep again, couldn’t turn off CNN because I didn’t want to wake up and learn that the House and Senate were still Republican strongholds. That would mean endless newspaper images of Bush’s smirking face and more years of badness. But oh happy day!!! For the first time in 6 years, I actually want to read a newspaper again.