The Story

The U.S. Election Comes to Morocco

Nov. 15, 2008 | By Adam Farrar, DSJ International Correspondent

Hello from Morocco, post-November 4th! The elections were highly anticipated even in Morocco. Although, I’m sure nothing can compare to what it must have been like in the US, it was still a spectacle to behold. The days leading up to the election were exhausting as the tension of the race was building.

President-elect Obama has overwhelming popularity here at AUI and in Morocco in general, reflected in AUI’s mock elections. From 12:00 PM-6:00 PM, AUI held these elections, open to students, faculty and anyone who could read and write. For a school of approximately 1,250 students, however, the turnout was quite dismal; only 365 students voting in total (at least the actual election voter turnout was higher!). When the votes were tallied, Obama received 340 votes, McCain 23, Bob Barr 1, and Ron Paul 1 vote.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control (Poste Maroc) my real absentee ballot did not come in time, and alas I was not able to cast my ballot in this race. Perhaps the single most frustrating aspect of studying in Morocco is the mail. Mail between Morocco and US on average takes two weeks and sometimes almost three!

To watch the results, I met up with a majority of the American exchange students and a sizeable number of Moroccan students. Everyone felt a mix of fear and excitement. Around 11:00 PM (7:00 PM EST), the results started coming on CNN and the cheering and booing began. A majority of the students were supporting Obama and as the night went on and as the results appeared more and more in favor of Obama, the fear faded and the anticipation reached a fever pitch. All of the exchange students and even a few Moroccan students had resolved to stay up the entire night to see the results and the concession and acceptance speeches. None of us wanted to miss this historic election, regardless of outcome.

Finally, around 4:00 AM, the moment we had all waited for came… the next President of the United States is… Barack Obama! The room erupted in cheers, peopled hugged, screamed, cried, and celbrated. After the raucous died down, we all sat down, eagerly awaiting the President-Elect’s speech. Around 4:30 AM, the camera went live to Phoenix, Arizona for John McCain’s concession speech. Those of us that remained agreed that it was perhaps one of the best concession speeches ever delivered.

However, nothing could compare to the speech that was to come. At approximately 5:00 AM, Barack Obama took the stage in Chicago and delivered one of the best acceptance speeches in recent history. Most of us agreed that his speech was not in league with the likes of FDR’s “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” or JFK’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, rather ask what you can do for your country.” However we all agreed that, whether you voted for Obama or not, you had to admit that his speech was powerful.

Finally, at 5:40 AM, I fell asleep with my alarm set for 7:00 AM to go to class the next morning. Even though I had a quiz the next day and was exhausted, none of it really mattered since all of the students agreed that 30 years from now, no one will ask how you performed on a Darija quiz, or whether you nodded off in class, but rather they will ask, “Where were you when Barack Obama, the first African-American president, was elected?” I know where I was. Until next time!