The Light of Day in the Dark of Night

So it's the middle of the night here and Barack Obama is now the new black "President-elect" of the USA... I have to keep saying it out loud for it to sink in... Wow! The dancing has already started in front of the White House.

It's been a bit grueling reading and responding to the hard right diatribes, which I will not link to, and at times it felt like maybe their hatred truly was the "real America." But the result, a massive Electoral College majority, states carried in all parts of the country, a modest majority of the popular vote, and Democrat majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives gives Obama true "political capital" (unlike Bushes boast in 2004).

John McCain's concession speech was a bit scary; you could see that he was trying to "un-whip" the right-wing fanaticism that he'd spent the last few months feeding. This is going to be important: will they drop the "muslim commie" delusions, or will they start taking potshots (literally...) at him? McCain was once a legitimate centrist politician, but he made an ill-advised bargain with the hard right for a chance at the Presidency. America has moved well left of where he found himself, but there are still plenty of people who want to turn the clock back a couple of notches.

Obama's "victory" speech was low-key and eloquent. Boy, does he have his work cut out for him! Can he win the respect of his opponents? Given the election result he doesn't need to, but to it would be so much better for everyone if the fanaticism can be ended. Well if nothing else there'll be someone in the office who knows how to speak in public.

Listening to: Waiting On the World to Change by John Mayer from Continuum.