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VOTING SHIFTS The NY Times breakdown of how the country voted compared with 2004. The redder the area, the more people shifted towards Republicans. The bluer the area, the more people shifted toward the Democrats. Get the interactive map here. Image courtesy NY Times |
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We set about the task of freeing ourselves from the darkness of this decade and the shadows that have for too long haunted us. In this respect, all of us -- all races -- are a little more free at last.
The sight of Barack and Joe Biden, and their families in Grant Park, the warmth of the crowd, and its diversity will long linger as I reflect on how America has changed, and how we have changed ourselves.
Eastern Afghanistan--In the early hours of the morning, an Army Captain watched as the election results were being reported. He shook his head in disgust. "This is proof that the media can elect a President."
Though I lived in Minneapolis for a year to produce Al Franken's radio show, I am not an expert on local politics. But I do know that his Senate contest that was a statistical toss-up on Election Day remains one right now.
If Obama nominates Summers, he will send a dispiriting message to governments of developing countries -- especially in Africa -- just as they have begun to look at the United States as a beacon of hope.
President-Elect Obama is clearly a very smart guy and a very good politician. Unlike the last Dem with those credentials, he's also exceedingly disciplined. Those qualities will come up against a couple of very major problems.
McCain had to do the hard thing -- to not only accept loss and graciously congratulate the winner, but to encourage the rest of the country to offer their blessings to the new President-elect and his family.
There is a strong chance that Lawrence Summers is going to be returned to the post of Secretary of the Treasury. Larry will have to prove to us that he is different and not the harbinger of Clinton Term III.
The world looked to America... we showed our best. For one night at least, the world was sane.
The planet sighs in relief and deserves a righteous party. We have beaten back the worst in ourselves.
In the euphoria the Election night victory, I watched our Wesleyan students celebrating the victory of a man whom they had embraced and in whom they had invested their hopes.
I wanted to remind people that while things are better in New Orleans than when parts of the city were submerged, there is still a long way to go to bring the city back to full strength.
To win, Obama needed a movement. The same will be true in order to enact Obama's agenda for change in the months ahead.
Even if your candidate didn't win last night, you have reason to celebrate. We all do. Barack Obama's impressive victory says a lot about America. Because yesterday voters decided that they didn't want to look back. They wanted to step into the future.
So we held our breath for twenty-two months, twenty-two months of an election that everyone claimed would bore us witless. The exact opposite turned out to be true: it was riveting.
I was convinced that the only way Barack Obama could win, the only path that didn't lead to Losertown or Wussville, was for him to channel the nation's outrage and eviscerate John McCain. Fortunately, Obama and his Davids knew better.
Mr President-Elect, there is a pile of ticking time-bombs waiting in your in-tray and you have to defuse each one of them, fast. Welcome to the next four years of your life.
Live from Santiago, Chile, there was an election night shout out from R.E.M. for the Huffington Post's election coverage.
The proof of my children's lack of anxiety over their racial identity, is the amused, slightly puzzled way they watched their parents bawling our eyes out in front of Barack Obama's victory speech last night.
If President-Elect Obama were an incoming CEO, he would now be preparing for a massive write-off of the mountains of rotted junk buried on the company's balance sheet and an announcement that recovery will take a long, long time.
