Obama victory sparks jubilation in Madison (with photos)

11/05/2008: Tuesday, when the major networks projected that Barack Obama had won the presidency, Sharmarke Hamud, 19, a Somali-American,  and his five roommates grabbed an American flag and hit the streets.
 

A t 10 p.m. Tuesday, when the major networks projected that Barack Obama had won the presidency, Sharmarke Hamud, 19, and his five roommates grabbed an American flag and hit the streets. What started at the Palisade Apartments, an upscale building at Johnson and Marion streets just off campus, turned into a spontaneous parade that made two trips to the Capitol, went up and down State Street, paused outside the beer garden at State Street Brats, went through the Union Terrace, picked up more revelers at Helen C. White Library and stopped traffic as it headed up University Avenue.  More Image Gallery

What started at the Palisade Apartments, an upscale building at Johnson and Marion streets just off campus, turned into a spontaneous parade that made two trips to the Capitol, went up and down State Street, paused outside the beer garden at State Street Brats, went through the Union Terrace, picked up more revelers at Helen C. White Library and stopped traffic as it headed up University Avenue.

It gained and lost strength, but at its height, the parade was more than a thousand strong.

The parade was the most visible sign that Obama's victory had washed away eight years of frustration in Democratic Madison, sparking jubilation across downtown. While Democrats Al Gore and John Kerry lost narrowly to George W. Bush in the Electoral College, they carried Madison by margins of more than 2-1, and Obama was no different.

Hamud's group, made up of college-age students of all races, watched the last few minutes of Obama's acceptance speech outside of Hawk's Bar and Grill on State Street. Hamud was taping it at home.

They marched at a fast pace chanting "O! Ba! Ma!," "Yes We Can!" and at times reclaimed the McCain-Palin rally chant "U.S.A.!"

The group paused in Library Mall for the Pledge of Allegiance.

"It's unbelievable. Words cannot explain how I feel," said Hamud, who waited two and a half hours Sunday to vote early at the Madison City Clerk's Office in the City-County Building downtown. "It was my first time voting. I feel like I made a difference for the good."

Hamud, a University of Wisconsin-Madison sophomore, was born in Washington D.C., but his Somali-born parents moved him to Minnesota at age 8.

"I was amazed at the turnout," he said, adding that he encouraged all of his friends to vote Tuesday. "The majority voted. I was very pleased."

After Obama's speech, the bars emptied out and State Street felt like it does on a typical Friday or Saturday night at bar time, but with lots of hugs, high-fives and screaming. Buses, cabs and even a fire truck went down the street honking their horns. Four bikers rode down State Street beating on drums and playing a cowbell.

Local street musician and State Street fixture Art Paul Schlosser strummed his guitar and played what he said were "Obama" and "U.S.A." chants on his kazoo.

Rosey McAdams, 21, was beating two pans together as she walked down State Street with eight of her friends, most of them UW-Madison juniors, chanting "O! Ba! Ma!"

"I have never felt better to be an American than at this moment right now," McAdams said. "It's absolute bliss."

"Ecstasy," added her friend, Julia Blum, 20.

Among the group was Natalie Molina, 20, who held a homemade "Yes We Did" sign and stood on the street screaming her heart out. Passersby stopped to take her picture.

"I'm honored to be an American right now," said the first-time voter. "We're moving in the right direction. This is what we needed to happen. We're on the right track."