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Road Trip To Success ™/ Text / Kirby Howell Baptiste So, I recently returned to the UK after 5 months of working and travelling around the US . Now, I’ve been to the US a couple of times before but this time was different. Despite going through the worst economic crisis since the depression, many Americans felt hopeful and positive about what the future had to hold. The reason? One man-Barack Obama. Not only did the notion of Obama’s presidency bring hope (his campaign slogan) for the future, it also brought some small sense of closure for the past. I touched down in Atlanta, Georgia in early June, it was hot and humid but the talk was not about the heat or last nights TV, no, it was political and highly charged. There were no fence sitters, everyone had an opinion. My five days in Atlanta were amazing, I saw things and heard things then set off on the next leg of my journey feeling that little bit more enlightened. My next stop was Starrucca, Pennsylvania (close to Scranton, Joe Biden’s home town). Naturally, working at a summer camp the conversation was less government, more gossip. Apart from the brief chat I had in a bar with an exsoldier, who told me “I would love to vote for Obama, but I’m just not sure if I could because of his policies on Iraq. I really don’t feel like we can leave yet” politics was not on my mind. The next time I thought about the campaign was at lunch one day, when the American camp counsellors had to fill out payment forms. When it got to the part of the sheet marked tax, someone snorted “Vote for Obama if you want your taxes raised, that’s what he wants to do”. The remark was met with sighs and rolled eyes and for me, that was that. The next leg of my US tour led me to the West Coast. First stop-San Francisco. Now, California is well know for its radicalism and its liberal mentality. It was at the fore-front of the 60’s Hippie movement and still in the 21st Century it retains its free spirit and individuality. But make no mistake, though California is full of laid back souls and beach bums, it also has one of the largest voting powers in the whole of the US. San Francisco was probably the most politically charged environments I had been in. Everywhere you looked people were sporting Obama tshirts, badges, stickers and if they weren’t wearing it they were talking about it and if they weren’t talking about it they were definitely thinking about it. I saw a plethora of slogan tshirts ranging from ‘Hope’ and ‘Change’ to ‘Obama for you mama’ and ‘Barack Obama is my home-boy’. I was in a left wing cocoon, and as far as San Francisco was concerned, Obama could do no wrong. A brief walk on Haight Ashbury (a popular area/street because of its involvement in the free love/hippie movement) and it was very clear this was a Democratic State. I spoke with people who loved Obama for his policies, I spoke with people who loved him for his and Michelle’s charitable past, I even spoke with people who simply loved him because he was “so damn hot”. Obama had the West Coast in the bag, people of all ages, all creeds and all colours were going to do everything in their power to ensure he would become the 44th President of the United States. Next stop, Hollywood. Now as an actress this is a place that I have dreamed of going to. Talk of the election was replaced by talk of the film industry. Hollywood is a world within itself, with its own economy, its own politics and its own way of life separate to the rest of the state. Its politics did not involve the white house, it involved the playboy mansion. Instead of selling stickers, people were selling their talents. There were street entertainers every 5 feet and concerns about the future President were second to concerns of their future agent. Memphis was the next stop. Home of the blues, B.B King and Elvis. Memphis, like San Francisco has a huge political history. Not only is Memphis home to the National Civil rights Museum, It was a key state in the civil rights movement and the place that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. With this in its blood I knew Memphis was a state to see first hand. It had been 3 months since I was last in the south and I was keen to see how or if attitudes had changed. In Memphis I stayed with a friend at Rhodes College. Rhodes is one of the top schools, in the South, it is also largely right wing, a far cry from anywhere I’d been so far. Obama supporters were few and far between, something I learnt quickly. One night at dinner, being the novelty British person, I was enduring the usual foreign grilling. When asked what was my least favourite thing about the US, I quipped Sarah Palin, a joke that soared like a lead balloon. I was greeted by a sea of confused ‘It must be a British thing’ faces. Something that I did not fail to notice, was although there were less Obama supporters at Rhodes, they seemed to be doing more than the McCain followers. Obama had much more visual presence (again I saw enthusiastic followers selling badges and t shirts), whereas, like Mc- Cain, his supporters seemed all talk and no action. The Obama campaign was heavily proactive echoing the movements half a decade ago. The feelings on the streets of Memphis did not reflect those at Rhodes. Again I saw t-shirts but they were not always worn with the same optimism that they had been in California. It seemed, like much of the US, the South especially had been hit hardest by the current economic crisis. Many people not only wanted Obama, they needed him. Despite this desperation I was not surprised that McCain took the Tennessee vote. Many of the Obama supporters could vote with their tongues but not with their feet due to social circumstances. Memphis was a place of mixed feeling, but like Sam Cooke I was sure “change was gonna come”. I landed in New York on a sunny day in October, 2 weeks before the most talked about election in US history. Dday was coming, and as I sat in a hairdressers in Brooklyn and watched senator Obama on TV I felt hopeful. I was in New York City once again, not only at an exciting time in US history but also at an exciting time in my life as I was hitting the big-21. Back to reality. Heathrow airport . October 30th, 11pm, and although it was the end of my US tour it was by no means the end of my election obsession. By the time I had recovered from my jet-lag we were just a couple of days away from the polls opening. On the 4th of November live coverage began on the election and state polls, and although I was ready for bed at 12am, I didn’t sleep for another 7 hours. Watching the results file in, I felt less like I was watching the Presidential race and more like I was watching an athletic one. I was gripped. At 1 am John McCain was leading, I said a prayer, crossed my fingers and sat on my bed watching with cautious optimism. Around 2.01 am things were looking up. 4:24 am, and its clear Senator Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States of America as he effortlessly clears the 270 winning post, with 5 States still waiting to be counted. Jubilation from Kent to Kenya. Worldwide, the streets, bars, community centres, and parks are teeming with Obama supporters. Suddenly a park in Chicago seems like the only place in the world to be. And the end results? Obama and the Democratic party won 365 votes, with McCain and the Republican Party winning only 173.		Issue Three Aug 2008 Giggs Interview Global Kingdom : What Is Britishness Back To The Old School Fashion Sarah Maple Exclusive Young Comedians Kyza Interview Charlie Crocket Feature Chip Music Feature Lips To The Mic : Female Artists The Chrsiping Debate Rodney Hinds Careers Interview De Tropix Interview Grey Hound Racing Feature Slanguage Feature Real Life Gambling Crazy Cousinz Interview Hard Knock Wife Review Secret Style Histories Riz MC Cover Artist Feature Dels Cover Artist Feature Sofi Donut's Artist Feature Sara-Sham Savari Benoit Pioulard Emily Cummins Interview This Real Life : Smacking Damien O'Brien Interview Issue Two Aug 2008 Reggie Yates Interview Road To 2012 : Olympics Special Road To Carnival Fashion Freedom At A Price Red Hot Interview Nash Money Sneakers Micachu Interview Natty Interview Life In The Marine Corps Parents Meet The Teenagers Young Londoners Meet The Cast Of Adulthood Cyko Logic Interview Fred Butler : Prop Stylist Interview Immortal Technique Review Made In Queens Victor Timofeev : Artist Interview Ricky Powell Interview Twizzle Interview Flywear Feature Top Girl Film Feature Queen Of Nations Not Without My Sister Sky's The Limit Career's Advice Issue One March 2008 Bashy Interview The Cool Kids Lady Lykes Grimes New School Rowdy Superstar Interview The Sound Of Reason Slash Interview Hoxton Vs Hampstead Fashion Young Designers Lucinda Chua Interview Will Kay Interview The Brothers Size Chris Lambert Duane Henry Drug Trafficking Feature Does My Bum Look Big in This Life After Prison Whats Upsetting Our Children MP Julia Goldsworthy Autechre Live In London Hardcore Is More Than Music Media Box Paddington Development Trust The Cut Ica Blog The Cut On Myspace