The Election of Barack Obama

The election of Obama is a very important step forward for America. It fulfills the best promises of our nation, that a person rises and falls on the merits of their own ability regardless of skin color or heritage or sexual affiliation or religious affiliation. Well maybe not sexual affiliation just yet. I think the most important part about electing an African American to the presidency is that he was the best man for the job. I could not have voted for him if he did not meet that requirement.

Obama truly ran a race designed to be as free of sleaze as he could make it. He largely succeeded at this and in doing so has provided hope that others will follow in this path and run on issues and problem solving. Obama allows our country to breathe a giant sigh of relief that Bush, despite his best efforts, has failed to totally destroy the country.

Obama has a big win and a solid mandate to follow through on his policy proposals. I hope he chooses to get that health care done first. There is a lot on his plate including the closure of Gitmo. Not to mention the massive economic issues he must deal with.

Obama though is not perfect. He seems to be very much focused on moving forward without dealing with the sins of the past. I hope i am wrong about that because i think it is truly important that we deal with those who have so disgraced us in the eyes of the world. It is not enough to simply work to undue what they have done, we need to provide a disincentive to ever try and do it again. Accountability should be the watch word. Sadly i dont see obama following through on this, but i hope i am wrong.

So congratulations to everyone who worked their asses off to get him elected and to america for having the good sense to vote for him. He was truly the best choice, the best person for the moment. Now the work of governing and fixing our problems begins.