Obamania in Toronto

Election Day in America means a night of anxious television watching for Canadians.

Like always, I can't say it better than the NYT so I'll just quote:

It’s hard to overstate how fervently vast stretches of the globe wanted the election to turn out as it did.

But first, it was a few of hours of result watching in a den of the liberal elite media (the Varsity headquarters). CNN had some pretty slick holograms that we'll all be chuckling at in 10 years.

CNN called it for Obama promptly at 11 and the room went wild -- not many people pretend to be unbiased up here.

After watching McCain's speech, we headed to Yonge and Dundas.

We arrived to find a pretty small crowd struggling to find a way to listen to Obama's impending acceptance speech. Someone's iPhone swooped in to save the day. An online radio stream from NPR was played over Newmindspace's mobile speakers. Technology for the win.

Most of the action centred on a group that had brought some flags and a life sized Obama cutout. The media (which seemed to outnumber the celebrants at first) was all over them.

It wasn't the spilling-onto-the-streets sort of gathering that some people expected but there was no shortage of honking and screaming. After the speech, more people trickled in and the event turned into a dance party.

If this crowd was any indication, Canada is ready to give America a second chance.