After the fireworks stopped, the tears of joy or despair dried and the jubilant crowds straggled home, the magnitude of what happened on election day 2008 began to set in. Barack Obama was president-elect, the first black man in the country's history to claim the Oval Office.
The response was as complex and varied as America itself: elation, shock, doubt, wonder and some hard feelings.
Older folks put their trust in children they decided knew better. College students paid homage to the civil rights heroes upon whose shoulders Obama stood. A struggling businessman took heart that things might start to turn around. A woman opposed to abortion feared damnation.
When the nation awoke Wednesday, it was, for better or for worse, "a whole new world."
Longmont, Colo.
The succulent smell of fresh pan dulce permeated Vicente Fuentes' bakery Wednesday morning, almost as sweet as the joy he felt in contemplating the nation's first black president.
As customers trickled in, Fuentes, 43, was still talking about what he had seen Tuesday night, when Obama delivered his victory speech to as many as 200,000 people in Chicago's Grant Park.
"I said to my wife, 'Watch the TV -- in Chicago, in the park.' The white people, black people, Hispanic people," Fuentes said. "All races in the same park. And they wait for a black man. This is great. This is beautiful for this country."
Among the most striking results of Obama's decisive victory was the strong support from Latinos like Fuentes. During the Democratic primary, Obama lost the group to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. But in the presidential election, Latinos backed Obama by a 2-1 margin over Republican John McCain, according to exit polls.
Latino activists say the community rallied behind a candidate who was a racial minority and the son of an immigrant.
"Seeing a person of color rise to this office gives hope to all persons of color -- hey, you could do this, the American dream still is within reach," said Dan Pabon, a lawyer and Obama campaign volunteer in Denver.
"Maybe in 25, 30 years," Fuentes said, "we have a Hispanic president. Why not?"
North Miami
At the Bagel Bar East Bakery & Deli, Obama's victory was being pondered more than relished during Wednesday's lunch rush.
Asked if he was pleased with the election outcome, Al Meyersohn, a 77-year-old retired manufacturer of polymers from New Jersey, replied with little emotion: "No."
Meyersohn supported McCain.
"I'm a Korean War veteran, and I've always liked McCain and admired him for what he's been through," said Meyersohn as he and his wife waited for a table. "I think he would have been a good leader."
Sitting at the lunch counter was Sandy Liebowitz, who voted for Obama at the urging of his son and business partner, Michael. He still had reservations about the Democrat's ties to proponents of anti-Israeli rhetoric like Palestinian scholar Rashid Khalidi.
"I was concerned about that," said Liebowitz, 58, enjoying a pastrami on rye.
"There's too many other people involved who will steer Obama away from that," said Michael Liebowitz, 29.
Their L&M Engraving and Trophy business has been experiencing a bit of a slowdown, the son noted, adding that he has more confidence in Obama's economic plans. Sandy Liebowitz, who had been looking pensive as his son spoke about Obama's promise, seemed to come to a surprising conclusion.
"The future is going to be amazing," he said, "and in a positive way."
Ira Abler, a 79-year-old property manager with no plans to retire any time soon, said he was pleased with Obama's victory and incredulous about GOP accusations that the president-elect bodes danger to relations with Israel.
Having an accomplished, inspirational, family-oriented man of color as president sends the right signal to the world -- to America's friends and enemies, Abler said.
"When they announced on TV that he was president, I actually cried," he said, choking up again.
Los Angeles
Among the Crenshaw High School leaders gathered in the library Wednesday, one got rock star treatment: Pierre Dupree, 18, the only student old enough to have cast a ballot for Obama.
"Oh my God, you got to vote?" several of his 17-year-old classmates shrieked jealously. Instinctively, they reached out to hug and touch him, as though they could experience the voting through him.
"What was it like?" one student asked.
Dupree smiled at the memory of the voting booth. "I felt proud. I thought, 'I'm voting for the first black president the first time I vote,' " he said. "I can't really describe it."
The others nodded, black and brown alike. They look at Obama and see themselves, their hopes for getting into Dartmouth, UCLA and UC Berkeley next year, their dreams of studying veterinary medicine, forensic science, law and psychology. They say they see a future that many of their parents never had.
