election night thoughts

Almost two years ago, when his candidacy was first announced, the thought of a Barack Obama presidency seemed unreal to me. Going into the voting booth this morning and bubbling in Obama's name on my ballot felt unreal to me. And now, after the election is over and Obama has been declared the next president, it still seems unreal to me. I can't believe it's all over (finally!) and that what seemed like a distant dream is now going to become a reality.

However, despite my sentiments above, I am not an Obama fanatic. I know he won't solve all the country's problems and that he will make mistakes that will let me down. Like my fellow blogger Dan said:


"He is after all, merely a man, though extremely gifted and talented, and the challenges facing this land are of such a great magnitude. He's bound to disappoint and perhaps sooner rather than later. If you are looking for the Messiah, I believe he's already been here and is still at work but he's not running for President."

What inspired me most about today was not that my candidate won, but rather that the citizens of America were so interested in this election (no matter what side they were on). People were EXCITED again to participate in the process of democracy! Maybe this interest will last and people will become more involved in the political process of finding solutions to the problems that affect us all in some way: education, health care, and energy. That's my hope anyway. And I'm pretty sure it's hope that has got us to this result on election day, so it can't be such a bad strategy....

Here's to a new page turning in America's history.