The mood went from edgy to cautious optimism to jump-up-and-down jubilation as members of the Ajijic chapter of Democrats Abroad and others congregated for an election night vigil at Club Exotica on November 6.
The atmosphere was initially relaxed and a few Republicans even joined in the camaraderie at the beginning of the evening.
But the cheers grew louder as each CNN update showed President Obama’s lead increasing in the battleground states.
As the early numbers filtered in, everyone was keeping a close eye on their home states. Loreen, a Virginia Democrat, was cautiously optimistic about the urban areas of her state going to Obama. She had thought maybe the provisional ballots might keep everyone from knowing the result that night.
On vacation from Denver, Colorado, Larry Geller said he was sure his state would go for Obama with the most votes coming from the Denver/Ft. Collins/Boulder area. The Western Slope and Colorado Springs were “focus on the family” towns that would go to Romney, he noted.
The hard-core Democrats seemed the most nervous of all and found it hard to avert their eyes from the television screens.
Brooke Reidelberger from Michigan – the database manager for Democrats Abroad for all of Mexico – knew Obama was the favorite, but was concerned that it all might depend on Florida yet again.
Howard Feldstein became a Democrat when presidential candidate John Kennedy spoke at Boston’s Faneuil Hall Market. “Obama should win the electoral college vote by a reasonable margin ... but the popular vote by a slim margin,” predicted the former president of Democrats Abroad.
Lois Schroff, a seven-year resident of Ajijic, originally from Virginia, said she gave up on the Republicans when Ronald Reagan was elected. She is an active member of Democrats Abroad and proud of the organization for getting out the expat vote. She thought the expat vote would be important this year, as it had been in the past.
Not everyone at Club Exotica was a diehard Democrat.
“Obama has been a disappointment,” said Alberto Gonzalez, a native of Cuba. “However in the last year he has learned the lessons he needs to. When you look ... at Mitt Romney who stands with the one percent, who have gained tremendous wealth over the last 35 years, it seems it’s about time we right the ship and I think Obama is the one to do it.” Gonzalez, a former Massachusetts resident who has been living at Lakeside for six years, called himself “a life-long independent, who tends to lean to Democratic principles.”
By 10:30 p.m. and with CNN calling the election for President Obama, widespread relief had set in.
“Obama is my boy,” said a happy Robby Robinson, a former New Jersey resident with seven years at Lakeside. He said he knew the election would be much harder to win than last time, but believed Romney had no chance because “the general populace don’t believe what the Tea Party and the Republican Party want to do with the country.”
Anita Henry, from Pennsylvania, was ecstatic and admitted she had been scared for weeks about the outcome. “The Republicans are so right wing. It’s the reason I left the country and came here to live four years ago.”
Lois Cugini, a 33-year Lakeside resident, originally from Boston, was concerned early on and thought it would be a closer contest. While happy at Obama’s victory, she worried at more Republican-led deadlock in Congress. “In order for the U.S. to get ahead, people need to think about the country and not politics,” she said.
One of the most satisfied party goers was a Canadian from Toronto who winters here and who refused be named. He claimed to have predicted every U.S. presidential election correctly since 1960. Early on in the evening he forecast that Obama would get more than 300 electoral college votes (he got 303, with the votes in Florida still being counted). In the post-game analysis, perhaps that was not such a hard call.