By: Trevor Calero
Daily Staff Reporter
Published November 5th, 2008
DETROIT – With speeches from important political figures from around the state, the strong, lingering scent of cigar smoke, and roaring chants of “yes we can” echoing off the walls, Michigan Democrats celebrated the election of Sen. Barack Obama as U.S. president here Tuesday night.
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Yesterday evening in the Renaissance Center, the Michigan Democratic Party held an open event to highlight some of the party’s races around the state.
After kicking the event off at 9 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and a singing of the national anthem, interim Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel spoke to the crowd of 1,000 people about the impact of Michigan’s role in the election.
“This is a great day to be a resident of Detroit, it’s a great day to be a Michigander, it’s a great day to be an American,” he said. “Not only have we made history, but we have begun to chart the course for a new direction in this country.”
After Cockrel spoke, other prominent state political figures took the stage, addressing the excitement of the election and the importance of what tomorrow will bring for this nation.
Newly elected University Regent Denise Ilitch spoke to the audience about educating Michigan’s youth to keep them in the state and prepare them for the global economy, before parting with the cheer “Go 'bama, go Biden, go blue.”
Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, newly elected Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway and Gov. Jennifer Granholm added to the long list of speakers during the event.
Granholm started by thanking Michigan residents for supporting the Democratic Party and for working to elect Obama, a president, who she said, is going to “fight to keep jobs in this country.”
“It’s not just a victory about one person, it’s about a victory for this nation, for this world, for this planet,” she said. “This is a new day in America and let us start anew, celebrate tonight, the new America is here.”
And as the words flashed across each of the four projection screens stationed at the front of the ballroom, reporting the news that the Senator from Illinois would be the next President of the United States, with their shouts, tears, claps and songs, those in attendance seemed to believe it.
