O-balm-a has soothing effect on friend and foe alike
THE inevitability of the moment didn’t detract from its eminence.
As the new day brought to victory a man who both promised and personified change, the reality dawned that talk of transformation was over and the process itself had begun.
The bleary-eyed crowd who gathered overnight in Dublin to mark the occasion at the invitation of the US ambassador were jubilant in a restrained way that respected its enormity.
Even those aligned to McCain said the name Obama easily. It could have been O-balm-a for the soothing effect it had on friend and opponent alike.
But then if the art of diplomacy could be hung on a wall, Ambassador Thomas C Foley would need a gallery all to himself. His task of hosting the embassy’s election night party for the great and good in politics and the professions would, ordinarily, have come with some degree of suspense.
But with every poll predicting an Obama win, and almost every guest wishing it so, the outcome was assured before Foley ever got to switch on the big screens beaming live broadcasts from CNN.
That outcome would mean just one thing for the republican stalwart — his days in Ireland would soon end. Yet if he felt like a turkey hosting a butchers’ convention, he never let on.
He had the Guinness Storehouse venue decorated floor to ceiling in celebratory stars and stripes, tables scattered with badges egging on both Obama-Biden and McCain-Palin, and life-size cardboard cut-outs of McCain and Obama standing shoulder to shoulder.
He didn’t flinch when the pair were prized apart for camera phone snaps as female guests elbowed the ageing McCain out of the way and cuddled up to the dishy Democrat instead.
There wasn’t a frown from him when the hungry hundreds devoured the free hot dogs, quipping — perhaps once too often for the preservation of hilarity — that they expected McCain oven chips seeing as the republican contender was going back to his day job.
And there wasn’t a hint of hard feeling when, approaching 11pm, he graciously conceded it was all over. He gave thanks for the welcome he had enjoyed during his two years as ambassador and then he took the giant, trumpeting elephant in the room firmly by the trunk and paraded it for all to see.
“I know some of you would like to have me make a prediction here tonight.” He paused, smiling. “I have spoken to a few Republicans and when I asked them where they were going to watch the count, they said they were going to stay at home and keep drinking.”
Those who had politely held back from whooping every time another percentage point went Obama’s way now let loose. Bud Light was swapped for the full strength variety and more hot dogs were crammed in.
For the first time in weeks, a relaxed Mary Hanafin looked as if she hadn’t seen a ghost; Micheál Martin breezed about the place with a pleased expression that hinted at future transatlantic dalliances in Obamaland, and the very fact that Éamon Ó Cuív made a public appearance was momentous enough to give November 4 another reason to be declared historic.
Fianna Fáil backbenchers looked thrilled to be meeting each other without a plot to revolt and opposition TDs seemed to take heart from the fact that if an unknown with a funny name could be president of the US, there was hope for the Leo Varadkars of the world too. Someone hid the cardboard McCain behind Obama.
Close to midnight, many more beers had been drunk; many star-spangled hats had been snatched off the heads of patient catering staff, and the cardboard Obama had been swept into the middle of the floor where grinning women partnered him in dance.
A handful of Republicans cheered good-naturedly when an early exit poll showed McCain had Kentucky, knowing they would have few chances for repeat performances.
By 1am, exit polls were giving Obama six states to McCain’s three and the sweet-toothed were eyeing stacks of newly delivered doughnuts, rubbing their hotdog bellies and wondering out loud if they could really fit in another bite before answering themselves, once too often for the preservation of hilarity: “Yes We Can.”
At about 2.30am, word came through that Obama had Ohio and that was that. History dictated that whoever won Ohio won the White House and so the bar closed, the crowd dispersed, the catering staff moved in to clear the dirty glasses and burst balloons and a manager rescued the cut-outs and whisked them off to a storeroom, a few remaining women blowing kisses at Obama as he passed.
Later the speeches — Obama’s acceptance and McCain’s concession — confirmed what everyone already knew but did it in a way that nobody would forget.
There was no triumphalism in Obama’s words, no bitterness in McCain’s.
It was a victory for the Democrats on one side, but also for the diplomats on all sides.
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