Election Resonates Deeply For Obama Supporters

FALMOUTH- For Levi C. Adams of Nickerson Street, Teaticket, a member of the Falmouth Town Democratic Committee and a supporter of Barack Obama for president, Tuesday’s announcement that Mr. Obama had won the election was “exhilarating,” but it also brought up a mix of emotions that took some time to process.
“You don’t think about all the significance of it at once and then you ponder the question and see what a sea change this is for America. I was a little overwhelmed by it,” he said.
Mr. Adams, a retired vice president of Brown University who grew up in North Little Rock, Arkansas, said the part of Mr. Obama’s acceptance speech when he talked about the 106-year-old woman and the things she had experienced in her lifetime was particularly moving.

Levi Adams

“I grew up in the South and I experienced some of those as well,” Mr. Adams said. “Being at the back of the bus or in a store where you didn’t have access to everything that was available. We’ve come a long way.”
Having attended a segregated elementary school and high school, Mr. Adams said, he knew what it meant to grow up in a segregated society. “I was fortunate to come North to go to school,” he said of his college education at Boston University.
Mr. Adams, who is 77, said in some ways, Mr. Obama’s demeanor reminds him of someone else who broke a color barrier: Jackie Robinson, the first black player in the Major Leagues.
“I recall some of those days and the things he was exposed to. He was calm and thoughtful” in response, Mr. Adams remembered of Mr. Robinson.
Mr. Obama has some of those qualities, too, Mr. Adams said, noting he is “competitive but calm.”
Mr. Adams may be one of the few Falmouth residents to have actually met Mr. Obama, back at the Democratic Convention in 2004 when Mr. Adams was a delegate.
He also met him in 2006 when Mr. Adams was coordinating Governor Deval Patrick’s campaign on the Cape. Mr. Adams said his first impressions of Mr. Obama were that “he was impressive as a person who had a sense of destiny.”
When Mr. Adams heard Mr. Obama give the keynote speech at the 2004 convention, Mr. Adams said, “I was blown away.”
Over the past two days since the election, Mr. Adams said he was at Falmouth Democratic campaign headquarters and people have wandered in from the street just to say how excited they are.
Two other longtime Obama supporters in Falmouth were also overjoyed on Tuesday night.
Elizabeth D. and Joe H. Doud of Boxberry Hill Road, Hatchville, were so confident that their candidate would win that, back in January, they made reservations for hotel rooms in Washington, DC, for the inauguration.
“Back in January, we just decided Barack Obama was going to win this election and we knew we’d be working for him,” Ms. Doud said.
The Douds also worked for the John Kerry presidential campaign in 2004 and worked on Al Gore’s campaign in 2000, so the victory felt especially sweet.
“I’m still flying high,” Ms. Doud said last night. “I feel so thrilled that this man is going to be our president.”
For Ms. Doud, who is in her 60s, and her husband, who is in his 70s, going to this inauguration was important.
“This may be our last chance to go to an inauguration we worked pretty hard for,” she said.
Ken O. and Wendi B. Buesseler of Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, also worked for the Obama campaign, traveling up to New Hampshire three times, most recently last Saturday. Ms. Buesseler said, while campaigning, she was most struck by how organized the Obama campaign was, in stark contrast to other campaigns she has worked on.
Ms. Buesseler said she decided to support Mr. Obama after seeing his speech on race last spring. “That’s what did it for me. I was blown away by it.”
As to Tuesday’s election, the Buesselers attended a party in West Falmouth where the announcement that Mr. Obama had won was met with cheering and tears of emotion.
“It was fabulous; I think for the first time in so long I was so proud of my country,” Ms. Buesseler said.
In the past few days, Ms. Buesseler said, she has noted a different tone around town. “Everybody is just grinning,” she said.
Ms. Buesseler said she and her husband are thinking about trying to attend the inauguration. “It would be so much fun,” she said.