Fifty-one-year-old Elizabeth Estrada of Kihei was so moved by President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday night, she began making plans less than 24 hours later to attend his inauguration in January in Washington.
"I want to see history," said Estrada, who works two full-time jobs and has never actively campaigned for a political candidate. "I see our future with him, our country's future, and I just want to support him."
Maui residents joined those across the state in showing support and pride in the presidential victory of Hawaii-born Obama, a graduate of Punahou School on Oahu.
"I'm so exhausted I could hardly feel the ecstasy," said Kallie Keith-Agaran, a local consultant who spent Tuesday watching election returns and partying with other local Obama supporters. Keith-Agaran, and her husband, Gil, campaigned for Obama on the Mainland for four months leading up to the Democratic primary earlier this year.
They walked through snow in New Hampshire to reach voters and encourage them to support Obama in a campaign they described at the time as "very intense" and "very exciting."
"I loved it," she said about the Mainland experience, adding that she wished she had participated in the election campaigning this fall.
Nane Aluli of Napili watched Obama, the nation's first biracial president, give his victory speech broadcast from his hometown of Chicago on Tuesday night.
"God, he sounds like Kennedy," Aluli said, referring to the late President John F. Kennedy.
Aluli said he only wished the best for Obama: "He's stepping into a situation that's the most challenging we face. I'm afraid the euphoria of today will be lost tomorrow."
At a celebration Tuesday night, supporter Bill Paynich said he remembered the civil rights movement and was glad an African-American had been elected president during his lifetime.
"We finally have seen it," he said.
Paynich said Obama's election made him proud of his country and hopeful for the future. While Democrats may be elated by their victory, they shouldn't gloat and should start looking for ways to reach out to Republicans, he said.
"This is a time for consensus building," he said.
Obama supporter Michael Snyder, who threw the election- night party at the Maui Beach Hotel, said the atmosphere was electric.
"I think it's a transformational moment in our country's history," he said.
Snyder said he had the opportunity to meet Obama.
"He's a wonderful person," he said. "He's got aloha in his heart, and he'll be a great president."
An attorney in Wailuku, Canadian citizen Cornelia Soberano has been watching the presidential campaign from the start. Soberano and a few others formed the Maui Filipino Working Group to promote educate and sensitize the community about Filipino culture.
"As a Filipino, as a woman of color, I am encouraged that people took courage and chose faith and trust, not fear," Soberano said. "That more Filipinos registered and voted makes me proud."
On Wednesday morning at Maui Community College, freshman Chris Sayno, 18, said Obama was the primary reason he cast a ballot for the very first time. "He's the only candidate I really knew," Sayno said. "He's from Hawaii and that's cool."
Maui Community College instructor Vinnie Linares said support for Obama stretched across generations. At 63, he agreed with 20-year-old student Michelle Manuel who said Obama made her feel safe in this country and he answered questions directly.
"I thought he was really cool," Manuel said.
"I'm 63 and I thought I would never see this," Linares said. He had been active in the civil rights movement in the '60's. "I thought I'd see a white woman before a black man" become president, Linares said.
Ginnie Morgan, an MCC math instructor, said she was excited about Obama's victory. "Man, oh man. It's like a whole new day has happened," she said. "The world has been waiting for this."
Political science instructor Joshua Cooper said his students have discussed presidential politics at length, in particular on Monday and the day after Obama was elected. "There's definitely a sense of opportunity," Cooper said.
He said he and his students focused on the message in Obama's speech about responsibility of all citizens to participate in government and cause the change they want in their country.
Cooper said his students liked Arizona Sen. John McCain's concession speech and his efforts to stop the boos and hisses whenever references about Obama were made.
"It was just the civility of it all. . . . In the end, you're trying to make America better," Cooper said.
Tatiana Nascimento, another MCC freshman, said she voted for Obama. "I agree with the majority of what he has to say," she said.
Nascimento's classmate, April Demetropoulous, said she didn't bother to vote.
"I can't complain about the government because I didn't vote," she said.
As far as Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Demetropoulous said "more power to them."
Still she was skeptical of newly elected candidates.
"Half the time, they don't do what they say they'll do. We'll have to see," she said.
* Staff writer Ilima Loomis contributed to this story.Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine @mauinews.com.
