Can Obama deliver?

I, for one, slept a lot more soundly last night, knowing that the American Republican party would no longer be leading the most powerful country in the world.

In fact, I was down-right relieved that Barack Obama trounced John McCain, in the U.S. presidential election yesterday. McCain, who is a war hero whether I agree with his politics or not, really had no shot after the country was destroyed by the worst president in U.S. history, George W. Bush. The fact he hired a village idiot to be his vice-presidential candidate is really all that kept them in the news for the past month or two.

But I was still wary heading into last night's results. These are the people that elected Bush a second time, in 2004, after he blatantly stole the White House in 2000, despite losing the election. If they were dumb enough to re-elect him in '04, who was to say they wouldn't go down that road again?

Especially when his opponent is a black man.

The U.S. hasn't exactly been known for its record of upstanding race relations, so I figured there would be some deep-seeded racism creep into the polling booths, but even that didn't happen — at least not enough to sway the vote one iota.

Kudos to Americans for turning over a new leaf. It was has been needed for many, many years.

So now the big question is, can Obama deliver the change he promised? Obama-fever hasn't been about taxation rates, or the economy, it has been about hope, about regular people in America, in Canada, and across the globe looking forward to a better world, a safer, cleaner world, a more tolerant and beautiful world. He has lit a fire under people who normally would care less which old, rich, white man
was leading the most powerful country in the world.

But Obama's task is no small feat. Bush has destroyed — gutted — the country. They're despised worldwide for their war-mongering and attitude towards others, and their economy is in shambles. Oh, and they're trillions and trillions of dollars in debt because of a pointless war in Iraq.

How can Obama cure all these ails? The political games in Washington will have to be played. He will have to do things people — even those who voted for him — don't like. He will have to run the country, no longer being asked to only spread hopes and dreams.

But thinking about that ruins the glow that continues to ebb from last night. So here's a great quote I heard on TV last night, which was pulled from an online message board. It went like this:

"Rose Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so we could fly."

Powerful stuff.

But, when you hear the next president of the United States speak, how can you not get excited about the future of North America and the world?

Let's hope he's the best president the U.S. has ever had, because all the billions of people around the world will lead a better life if he is.

Comments

[Jennifer]

Nice one, Dwight. I couldn't agree more.