Congratulations to Obama for winning the election, even if it was hardly a surprise. I marks a momentous day in history, and an incredible indicator to change and progress. A number of times today I have thought to myself, "Wow, imagine if I went back 150 years to the Civil War and told everyone, both North and South alike, that in just a sesquicentenary a black man would be President...". It certainly is amazing and I hope it to be a sign of great things to come.
To be honest, I believe that both candidates would have made great Presidents. I felt that McCain was extremely humble in his concession speech and that is something I truly do admire.
Indeed, if I were American and voting today, I would have found it very hard to separate the two. Palin would have been what secured my vote for Obama, however. The thought that that woman would have been one 71 year old heart beat away from being the President of the most powerful country in the world deeply concerned me.
Seeing as I am Australian, I really must mention my feelings concerning the result of this election and relations with Australia. I certainly hope that such a close bond between our two nations will be maintained. Though I do say that, as much as we love to hate the man, a lot of the reason why the alliance between us is so strong is to do with Bush. I fear that Obama wont be so interested. He really doesn't have any interest in the Pacific, and a lot of the things done between us under Bush (e.g. Free Trade Agreement) I don't believe would have been done under Obama. So, in closing on that topic, I just hope that Obama maintains strong relations between our two countries.
I look forward to see how Obama will lead the US into the future and certainly believe that this is a huge step forward. Come January he will inherit a tough situation. A budget with a tremendous deficit and a massive economic crisis, just for starters. For a 'novice' as some might say he will certainly have some hurdles to face, but I am confident that he will be able to overcome them all and lead the US to a new era, an era of Change.