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Obama's Victory Stirs Hope, Sadness In Tampa

Tribune photo by JULIE BUSCH

Donald James, owner of a Gary neighborhood welding shop, expected an Obama win Tuesday night.

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 5, 2008

TAMPA - There was elation this morning at the historic election of Barack Obama on Tuesday, but it was not universal.

Watching the returns Tuesday night with his girlfriend, Willie Robinson cried when results showed Obama would capture the presidency. He was up until about 2 a.m.

"I cried. This is America and anything is possible," said Robinson, manager of the Grand Wash coin laundry in Jackson Heights.

Obama's election should push the nation toward reunification, he said. "This country is so divided."

It also brings hope for his grandchildren.

"Hopefully it means a better future, better jobs and college," said Robinson, 47. "I think we will see better days. All of us, the whole world."

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream was realized with Obama's election, said Ermie Harris, 64, as she waited for her laundry to dry.

"He made everybody come together," she said of Obama. "He just reached out to everyone."

The happiness she felt was a new emotion for her during a presidential election.

"I never felt that way with any president. If felt this way in church but not for a president," she said.

But Kristin Siegle, 24, said the election was a sad day. Not because she voted for John McCain, but because she thinks so many voted for Obama because of his race.

"It's a sad day when we chose our president based on race. I would never, ever pick a person based on the color of his skin. It was just as wrong today as it was 60 years ago," said the Hillsborough Community College student and part-time worker in Ybor City.

"I wish if America wanted Barack Obama to be president, they had voted for other reasons than race," she said.

Donald James was happy at Obama's election, but not excited.

"It's something that was supposed to happen," said James, owner of a closed welding shop in the gritty industrial neighborhood of Gary.

James, 69, said the Bible foretold of Obama's election but his election does not mean everything will be fine.

"The next four years will be very hard. You know that," James said.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731.

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