Yesterday, November 7, 2012, was a time of high emotion for me.  The electoral outcomes I had feared might not happen, did happen.  Barack Obama was chosen, both by the nationwide popular vote, and the electoral vote, for a second term as president.  And Elizabeth Warren was elected U.S. Senator from Massachusetts by a margin of eight percentage points over her opponent, a sitting senator.

It’s reassuring once more to be confirmed about having chosen to live in Cambridge.  Eighty-six percent of my fellow citizens voted for Obama; eighty-four chose Warren. That means virtually all my local friends and neighbors made the same choices as me. So did most of the people I know elsewhere.

For fear all of the above may seem trivial, I must add a word about its significance. Approaching this election, I felt the wellbeing of this country at stake.  Were the Republicans to be elected to the White House and perhaps gain control of Congress, the country would have been dominated by those who place supreme importance on money. Already they had poured billions into the race; fortunately most of it proved wasted. But I feared the demise of the Affordable Care Act, legislation the Republicans had vowed to repeal. To my mind that would have been a disaster.

Similarly I feared the rise of a new militarism featuring a likely war against Iran. The Republicans have given every sign of being committed to an American exceptionalism that has proven dangerous to us and the world.  The people who would have been appointed to high office, including the Supreme Court, made me worry about the future of our country. The thought of Romney choosing John Bolton as his Secretary of State was enough to send shudders down my spine.

The glasses of fine drink I raised on election night and on the next day as well marked my feelings of joy.  I am glad and thankful to have reached this point in American history.