Boston Takes to the Streets

[babylonsister]

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/380573/boston_takes_to_the_streets

Boston Takes to the Streets
posted by Cora Currier on 11/05/2008



The college crowd was ecstatic tonight in Boston,taking over city streets and bars to celebrate a president-elect they could call their own.

At Tufts University, the quad overflowed with hundreds of students chanting "Yes We Can" and singing the national anthem.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts -- lovingly known to its residents as "the people's republic of Cambridge" -- the streets were jammed with crowds chanting and cars honking. Hundreds of students and residents shut down over a mile of Massachusetts Avenue, a major thoroughfare, with an impromptu march complete with drums and noisemakers. Finally, around 2 am, police corralled the marchers onto the sidewalk and the crowd dispersed.

The official tallies on the youth vote won't be in for a few days -- but CIRCLE, a think tank on civic engagement, estimates that young people made up 18 percent of today's voters (they are 21 percent of the total voting-eligible population). This is a one point percentage increase from 2004, but CIRCLE is also emphasizing that while the youth vote as a share of the electorate has remained close to constant, the sheer number of youth voting has likely increased substantially. Preliminary numbers also say that youth ages 18-29 voted for Obama 68 percent to McCain's 30 percent. In the streets of Boston, the party belonged to them.

[Cosmic Charlie]

1. and they can legally puff on the Reefer while they're doing it!!!

[babylonsister]

2. In Boston? Do tell. nt

[bicentennial_baby]

3. MA voted to decriminalize weed up to 1 oz., but

I assume that our legislature will repeal it in December. x(

Passed overwhelmingly though. :)

[babylonsister]

6. I can feel the hope from here!

This too should change, and just might eventually. :)

[leeann1317]

4. There are civil penalties now, not criminal. But there are still penalties.

[PA Democrat]

5. Same thing happened in Pittsburgh.

My son is a student at the University of Pittsburgh and he said there were thousands of students in the streets and the mood was jubilant. He said the GOTV effort on campus has been amazing and that everyone he knew had voted before 5:00 p.m. He called me at almost 2:00 this morning after he returned from the celebration on the streets and said it was a thrilling experience to be part of this historic election.



http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/politics/17893512/detail.html

After citizens heard that Barack Obama would become the next president, there was an outpouring of excitement and at one point as many as 4,000 people celebrated in the streets.

The crowd that took to the streets around 11:30 p.m. was made up of a number of Pitt students, according to police.

The students converged near Forbes Avenue and Bouquet Street, moving down to the Cathedral of Learning and then up Fifth Avenue.

Lt. Ed Trapp of the Pittsburgh Police said the crowd did not do any major damage and he said officers stayed with the crowd as they made their way through the heart of Oakland. "So far, they're just a little bit rowdy, celebrating. They've been very pleasant interacting with us and very friendly. We've tried to return that as much as possible and hopefully it will stay that way the rest of the night," Trapp said.