Wednesday, November 5, 2008 9:22 PM CST
Locals reflect on Obama's victory
By ROB STROUD and NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writers
Tuesday’s election of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama as president prompted some Coles County residents to celebrate, reflect on his path to the presidency and consider what will happen next.
“There’s no question this is a historic occasion,” said David Kidwell of Charleston.
His daughter, 26-year-old Lauren Kidwell, worked for Obama for two years in Washington, D.C. prior to joining the presidential campaign 21 months ago. Since then, “She’s been essentially all over the place,” Kidwell said.
He and his wife, Debbie, talked to their daughter in Las Vegas about midnight Tuesday, “just to congratulate her,” he said.
“The campaign people were exhausted, but she was running on adrenaline,” said Kidwell.
He declined even to speculate about his daughter’s future with the Obama administration.
“But regardless of her connections, we supported Obama,” Kidwell said. “He reached a whole new generation that got excited about politics for the first time. Let’s hope they stay connected and interested in what’s going on in this country.”
Charleston resident Heather Socarras and her husband Juan traveled to Chicago for Obama’s election-night gathering in Grant Park. Socarras said they arrived about 11:30 p.m., just after Obama completed his victory speech, but she said the party was far from over then.
“The streets were just filled with streams of people. We just could not see an end to the people,” said Socarras, who bought an Obama pin and T-shirt to remember the occasion.
Socarras said cheers and applause broke out every 5 minutes from the crowd. She joined them in cheering for the television news cameras there. Socarras described the crowd, which was filled with people of different races, as being “vibrant, happy and excited.
“You could just feel people’s happiness,” Socarras said.
Locally, there were reports of a crowd of more than 300 Obama supporters celebrating on the South Quad of Eastern Illinois University’s campus and someone setting off a crate full of fireworks just after midnight on West Taylor Avenue.
Coles County Democrats Chairman Robert Webb said local Democrats celebrated as they saw Obama win approximately 51 percent of the vote in Coles County, which hasn’t gone in favor of a Democratic presidential candidate since Bill Clinton.
Obama’s visits as a U.S. senator to Eastern Illinois University and Lake Land College may have contributed to his success with Coles County voters, Webb said.
“They both attracted large crowds, the one at Eastern in particular. That gave people a feel for his personality and some of his ideas about the direction the country should be headed,” Webb said.
He said it also may have helped that Obama and Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin from Illinois have been supportive of the proposed FutureGen power plant in Mattoon. He said the question now will be whether Obama will and can restore federal funding for this near-zero emissions, coal-fueled plant.
EIU history faculty member Jonathan Coit said the roots of Obama’s becoming the first black president can be found in past successes of others in the civil rights movement and the political world.
Coit said Obama’s service in the Illinois legislature followed black leaders shifting from street protests in the 1960s to winning election to local, state and federal offices in the 1970-80s. He said one of Obama’s mentors, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, is from that generation.
Obama built upon past Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean’s use of the Internet to recruit volunteers and raise money, Coit added.
Still, Coit said Obama brought considerable talent of his own as a campaigner and orator to his run for the presidency.
Obama has an opportunity to create a great shift in American politics if he can be effective as president and have an effective working relationship with Congress, Coit said.
The history professor, an Obama supporter, said he expected to be jubilant about Obama’s historic election but has found that he is more concerned about the challenges Obama will face as president.
“I am personally more anxious to see what happens in the next six months. We are at a real critical juncture in our nation’s history,” Coit said, adding Obama will lead a United States that is increasingly no longer the single dominant world power.
Race was a factor in the election — although it likely was not the dominant issue among local minority voters, said the Rev. Cyprus Hughes, pastor of Second Missionary Baptist Church south of Mattoon. Hughes said his congregation is predominantly African-American, although whites, Hispanics and members of other races also attend.
But Hughes believes the state of the economy carried Obama to victory.
“We’ve seen enough of Republicans to know what they do well, and that’s keep everybody broke,” he said. “The economic conditions (were) a greater factor than race.”
At the same time, “Race becomes a factor in places like this,” Hughes also said. “I wish it wasn’t, but it is a factor.”
While many challenges remain for minorities, Hughes said the election of Obama shattered a tremendous barrier. “There is a sense for the first time among African-Americans of being able to accomplish something that’s never been accomplished,” he said.
“At least, from what we see, it proves that it’s possible.”
Mona Davenport, director of the Office of Minority Affairs at EIU, said Obama’s success is “still so surreal, not just because he’s African-American — because we have someone who is so brilliant (and) eloquent” as the next president.
“The people have spoken. I’m excited about what’s to come.”
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734. Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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Illinoisbound wrote on Nov 6, 2008 5:32 PM: