A New President, A New USA?

I'm not sure why I was more interested in the US election than my own here in Canada. Perhaps because the US takes a full two years leading up to their election "advertising" it. Perhaps because the opportunity was there to create history - first through a so-called 'black' president vs a female president with Obama & Hilary fighting for the Democratic vote and then through either a 'black' president or a 'female' vice-president. Perhaps because I watch a lot more US television than Canadian LOL I'd like to think it's because with the American decision comes an opportunity for change, an option we didn't have when voting here in Canada!

Many people weren't afraid to weigh in with their opinion that the Americans weren't "ready for a Black President". Did race come into play? We'll never know for sure but in some voter's eyes I'm sure it came down to choosing between the devil they knew (McCain - a white old guy like every other president) and the devil they don't. With McCain they knew what they were going to get, the same ol' same ol' whereas with Obama, at least there is a chance for something fresh & new. I myself am very excited to see what Obama is going to do. I haven't really been following their platforms and what they stand for but I did listen to both McCain's concession speech and Obama's victory speech. Both seemed very well writtened and refreshingly intelligent compared to the drizzle I'm used to hearing from BUSH!

However, with Obama's speech, I really felt like I was witnessing the begining of a new world. Deep inside me something registered with my soul, that I was listening to a true world leader and not just a political candidate. I feel our world is changing for the better and that the US voting in Obama is yet another step towards this more harmonized and positive society. I am not giving Obama all the credit for this change, I simply think that by the voters turning out as they did and choosing Obama, they are demonstrating that they are ready to be a new America. It's already being reported that voter turnout is the highest it's been since women were given the right to vote in 1920. Hindsight will always be 20/20 but I hope that I am still rooting for Obama in the 2012 election!

P.S. I couldn't help but notice that Obama & his family were wearing black & red despite being the "blue" party!

If you missed it & want to read Obama's speech in it's entirety, check out:

(text version) http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/6095699.html

or i'm sure youtube and many other sites will have the video ;-D

However, I'd like to highlight a few sections myself for your quick read...

"It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America."

"Sasha and Malia [his young daughters] ... I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us ...to the new White House."

"This is your victory. And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. "

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there."

"This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were."

"In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long."

"And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too."

"America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can."

Even re-reading it gave me a smile & butterflies around my neck!