Proud to Be American

This will not be an incisive look at what happened in the 2008 election. I am far too happy and drunk to offer that. All I can offer is my joy that, for the first time since I have paid attention to politics, the best man won. For the first time in 8 years, I will believe in my president and his ability to lead us to a better future. But even more than that, I think about what this means for America. In electing Barack Obama president, we have instantly raised our standing in the world by at least 60%. We have declared a willingness to work with our allies to build a better future.

Although I am still obsessively watching CNN in hopes that the final states and Senate races will be called before I go to bed, I would like to offer a few thoughts on the concession and acceptance speeches. I thought McCain's concession speech was not delivered by the 2008 McCain, who had given in to Steve Schmidt's fear-mongering tactics, but the 2000 McCain that I would consider voting for. He ended his campaign as the honorable, bipartisan man that he is, and he reminded us that he is a true patriot. I believe that McCain could potentially be one of Obama's greatest allies in getting bipartisan support for his legislative goals as president.

As for Obama's acceptance speech, it was every bit as joyful and inspiring as I could have hoped. He began the speech by reaching out to every American, reminding us of his greatest appeal. I believe Obama has run one of the most inclusive campaigns in recent history, not dividing the country into "real America" and "fake America," but trying to unite America for a common goal. He reached his high-point as he led a refrain of "Yes we can," the slogan that he has used since the primaries and has carried him this far. At this point, it seems appropriate to change that to "yes we did."

Obama faces the more challenges in his first term than any president since FDR. I fully expect the elections of 2010 to shift to Republicans as America becomes frustrated by Obama's inability to save the world in 2 years time. But if we are patient and believe in him, he will go down in history as one of our greatest presidents, as he brings us out of this economic crisis, ends the war in Iraq, and brings us into a new era of American prosperity. I'll be doing a series of entries in the next few days that highlight where McCain went wrong and what challenges Obama will face, in addition to other election-related topics. I will also, I promise, return to entertainment soon enough, with 3 movie reviews I owe you (Slumdog Millionaire, Synecdoche NY, and The Visitor). But tonight, let's just bask in the victory we have achieved, proving that young people will go out and vote when a candidate is worth supporting, as Barack Obama has clearly proven to be.