Continued Excitement

My hopes, like those of many others, came to fruition last night as we watched the the votes come in. I ended my last post with this hope:

I really hope that when all is said and done, and all the votes are counted, that I will have voted with the majority yet again....and in conjunction with that, I hope that my candidate actually wins the election.

As I sat back and took in the news of the night, it was all a bit surreal. Not only did Obama win the electoral vote in a landslide, but also the popular vote by (from the last numbers that I've seen) over 7 million votes. Unlike the past couple of elections that came down to a key state or two, this Obama win was decisive. I think that speaks volumes for the position of the people. What it says may be disagreed upon, but I think it is a combination of the following issues:
(1) The need for change in economic, social, and foreign policy.
(2) The involvement of more people than ever in our election process.
(3) The positivity and inspiring nature of president-elect Barack Obama.
(4) The fact that the virtues of the person outweigh the classifications that they fall within. The bigotry associated with those classifications do not exist to the extent that they once did.
(5) The nature of the man, not the politician. The fact that a large number of people felt a rapport with president-elect Barack Obama, as someone close to them; not just another political figure.

Now that the months of the buildup have reached its climax, the votes have been cast and the election has concluded, where do we go from here? I think that is a very, very important question.
(1) Will McCain supporters decide to support the new president? Will we be as Obama stated we are; not a blue state or red state, but the United States? I hope we can unite.
(2) Will all of the excitement and promises of action translate into progress? There are many expectations of change. Combining the new president with a president friendly partisan makeup of both the House and Senate, I really hope that we have the ability and foresight to get done that which needs to be done. The roadblocks that had been there in the past, in terms of filibuster and partisan red tape should be lessened. Much like a portion of time under the previous administration (when all three were Republican controlled), the new administration will have a greater ability to act due to having a majority. I just hope that they do so and do it in such a way that is positive for our country.
(3) Will the newly involved citizens of our country remain involved or was it a one time political involvement boom that reached it's highpoint yesterday? I hope that this was just the beginning and that the people will remain excited and involved. I also hope that the administration does it's part in keeping us all involved. I heard one man speak last night about whomever won this election having the burden of the engagement divided. I really liked what he said. He said that the country has many people that are newly involved in the process; people that are now "engaged in the process" and that it is up to the winner of the election to keep them engaged, to not let the engagement become a deficit, but use the new found interest for the betterment of the country. I was very impressed with that perspective and hope that we keep the "engagement dividends".

I could go on and on, but I think I've probably lost your interest by this point so I'll stop now. I'm very hopeful for our future and can not wait to see how it all plays out.