"This...is Your Victory"

[DragonHeart]

I'm sure everyone knows by now. Obama is the next POTUS. I missed his speech last night (damn work...again) but caught it on CNN's website this morning. Very well-spoken. I think we made the right choice.

So, thoughts? Opinions? (Those from non-Americans are very welcome, as this affects more than just the US.)

I think it's going to be a tough road for him, and for all of us as well. A lot of people are waiting for him to just wave some magic congressional wand and all our problems with be solved. That's the problem with deifying the man, the expectations are just too high. Judging by the gravity of his speech, this has occurred to him as well and the full weight of it is just sinking in now.

However, it's not all doom and gloom either. I think, regardless of what happens in the future, he will be known for doing something very important in these uncertain times. He's given hope to the people. Hope, and inspiration. The impact of yesterday will be rippling outward for years to come.

~DragonHeart~

[Victoria]

Well of course it's well-spoken. He's an orator. He's a professional talker. He can make anything sound good if you give him a few minutes to research it. >_>;

I honestly didn't like either candidate. I stick to my Obama phrase. "He's all charisma."

Now, I hope he actually does some good, now that he's in the big chair. But you're right. It won't be easy.

Edit: What does POTUS mean?

[Aerif]

Edit: What does POTUS mean?

My guess is that it's an acronym for President Of The United States.

Honestly, I'm glad that Obama won and not McCain, I'm not sure how most of the United States felt about the Bush-administration however practically all of Scotland (if not the UK) absolutely despised his role as one of the most powerful men in the whole world. And according to what I've read, McCain's policies were very similar to Bush.

The sad thing is that I can't see him lasting for the next 4 years. I have a terrible feeling that he will be assassinated, and it's definetly an opinion that I know a lot of people share.

EDIT: DH beat me to the acronym busting

[DragonHeart]

President of the United States.

Well, after listening to Bush for the past eight years, it's a refreshing change to have someone well-spoken at the helm. But I am curious as to why you think he's all charisma? And why being charismatic is bad, cause you can't be a good leader without at least some measure of it.

~DragonHeart~

[Storm]

I'm glad that Obama won. Out of the candidates, his policies seemed a lot better, and he seems a lot more human- charismatic and looks to me like a family man. Along with a lot of people being happy, there are a lot of people who will be unhappy, and with the threats of assassination being released even before him being voted, he will need a lot of protection. Along with McCain's policies not being quite as appealing, hes one heart attack away from having Palin in charge. The woman is scary! She has some homophobic views, hunts wild animals, and... is just... evil!

[Koda]

Being a U.S. Citizen, I am very proud to be a part of what certainly most Americans never thought would EVER happen. A moment in History, that I for one am excited to see. Finally the American people, all races, came together and voted for and supported the person, not the color. I am an Obama supporter, and as it has already been stated, it is going to be a very rough road for him with everything that has been left on the plate by Bush. But............Yes We Can!!
His speech was delivered well, accepted well, and he included ALL Americans, not just the ones that voted for him.
It's about time the American people came together........and I as I said, I am very proud to be a part of the day that will make it's mark in history for the United States. I am not African-American.......but I am an American and proud to have Barrack Obama as our next President of the United States.

[Dark Squall]

Well, after listening to Bush for the past eight years, it's a refreshing change to have someone well-spoken at the helm.

Feel like I'm watchin the tonight show

I think it's great thing that Obama won. He's young and ambitious and I'm sure he'll make lots of positive changes. The road wont be easy for him, but I'll thin he'll pass it with his head up. Man his speech was awesome!!

[Govinda]

Sarah Palin is not getting near high office without an escort!

Obama's foreign policy is what we (Europe) have been waiting for for years!

What a victory. We will not stop dancing. California, Washington State and then BOOM - the whole world watches as America suddenly appears as an ally again, instead of that freaky cousin who stopped taking his meds and stares agressively at our pets all the time.

As long as Obama talks his diplomatic talk like he promised to, this world will become a better place.

Can't stop my feet!

[nix]

Yeah lets just hope he doesnt turn into a blatent lying mass murdering piece of crap like pretty much all US presidents up to date.

[Koda]

Yeah lets just hope he doesnt turn into a blatent lying mass murdering piece of crap like pretty much all US presidents up to date.

Not a true statement. There have been several Presidents, in my time, that have done an outstanding job in many areas. What some do not understand is that even though promises are made during the campaign, it isn't the President who has the final say in many things. Reagan was an outstanding President, and so was Clinton. (Please don't start the Monica thing) Our economy was up, unemployment was down, etc. Yes there were some bad times during their time in Office, but don't think that all of our Presidents are as you stated.
Bush is the most hated President in our American history. Over 70% of us agree with that. So don't base past or future Presidents on him. Like father like son.........and don't forget, his father was our President at one time too. During BOTH Bush Administrations is when our country went downhill and the entire world begain looking at us in a different way. That isn't to say we haven't had other bad Presidents....Nixon, Ford, Carter...just to name a few.
But to call any of them 'mass murdering pieces of crap' is going a little far.

[nix]

Reagan you say ?

Reagan Was Behind "One Of The Most Intensive Campaigns Of Mass Murder In Recent History Journalist Allan Nairn interviewed by Amy Goodman Democracy Now!, Tuesday, June 8th, 2004

Am i allowed to post links?

[Zardoch]

I never really hated the guy, but I'm certain I can't trust him either. His ability has been highly exaggerated and his plans not only sometimes contradict each other, but no one can refute he still has no experience. What I suspect is he's going to pretty much do what other people tell him while claiming all the credit. Of course, don't get me wrong, he became a good lawyer and an organizer, but that's not enough to run a country. Intelligent? Definitely. President material? Hell no.

Unfortunately, I'm not surprised by his win at all. With such bias on his side and hatred for all things republican (and Bush), it was rather easy to brainwash kids into giving up their votes for him. And at this point, I suppose such things won't matter now that he accomplished his goal. Like I just said, I don't hate the guy, just this is definitely going to be a bad moment in history for the US.

Luckily, the GOOD thing out of this election is that the republicans held onto their strength of number by stopping the democrats from having a filibuster majority in congress. That means it'll make it all the harder for democrats and particularly Obama to push any agenda they may have. It was ironic too because many states Obama won went to republican senators/governors. This will at least allow things to be balanced.

[Koda]

I did some researching and did read many articles related to your link. I do stand corrected on that one. And guess who else was involved with Reagan.....good ole Bush!!
Ronald Reagan: Guilty of Treason & War Crimes

But I still stand by my words....not all American Presidents are mass murderers. There are wars yes, and no I am not a fan of war, but I do support our troops. And if need be, yes I would fight for my country too...............but that is something entirely different. And yes, that could be argued as well.
But this is a new day and time, with history being made. And hopefully our newly elected President will not only bring our country together, but our allies and friends around the world as well.

[Clint]

I'm excited about Obama's free health care policy, if he really decides to follow through with it. I mean, what kind of a country doesn't provide citizens with free health care? I'll tell you what country does that; a conservative nation that gives not two shits about anybody who isn't rich.

What I think Obama should do, even before establishing a foreign policy with Europe, he should establish one with Mexico, due to all the illegal immigrants coming in from Mexico. Bush wanted to do something like this; he wanted to allow Mexicans to enter into the U.S. to work legally, but still as Mexican citizens, in order to better both the American and the Mexican economy. But then September 11 happened, and people got freaked out about open boarders, so Bush was forced to close them off, hence the reason for all the illegal immigrants presently in America. That's one problem that needs to be fixed before new European foreign policies are established. Another problem are all the Canadians living illegally in America in order to avoid Canadian taxes. I am not one of them. In fact, I can't be one of them, because I have a dual citizenship with the United States.

[Rikkuffx]

I didnt even vote because I didnt liek him or Mccain. I feel like whoevers the next president is just gonna screw it up more. But having a democrat as president is better than having a republican.It jsut seems like the republican presidents screw up the economy and want war. Well we need to stop the war so we can get out of a recession. Blah. I hate politics.

[Andromeda]

I only have fear and dread for him going into office. Like someone said before Obama is always contradicting himself. I feel like he has no opinions of his own and that he just repeats what his advisors want him to say. And get ready for a lot of tax increases, that's all they like to do. Increase taxes and spend more on the government so that the government can tell you want you should be doing. And I can only see things getting worse for us on the foreign policy. We aren't here to be liked and win popularity contests. Nothing is going to happen all we are going to do is pull back all our troops and weaken our military.

He is all charisma and no substance. Which is going to be a problem since winning people, but not having anything to back it up is only going to get you screwed over worse in the end. I have no interest in the false hope he is talking about.

At least he is not Clinton, but I fear we are going back to the 90s. I'll never trust the Democrats.

/sigh

Oh well, its quite clear I'm in the minority here. But I've said my peace.

[Pete]

Wow, I'm agreeing with Andro on this. This doesn't happen often, so it must be a big day!

Blacksmith and Andro basically sum up my feelings on Obama. To me, he is inexperienced to the point where it's not good to have him as a leader. I feel that after only 2 years as a senator, he doesn't have the full idea of Washington politics, mostly because he is too green to be as wise to them. His campaign was mostly buzzwords such as change and hope, and quite honestly, he just got everybody he needed on his side. He had Oprah in his pocket, and with the way those sheep follow her, it's no wonder he came out in full force.

This election was not so much about the issues as it was about a massive popularity contest, and the need to replace Bush. When your approval rating is as low as it is, it's pretty easy to find someone who could do a better job in the eyes of the people.


The couple of things that bothered me most about this election though were the fact that reverse racism was a huge factor. If I would tell people that I voted McCain, or that I didn't like Obama, people would ask "why? because he's black?" The answer to that, by the way is no. I voted for McCain because I felt that he would do a better job running the country over Obama the socialist.

It also bothered me that he became an icon, more than a candidate. Do a google image search for Obama, and look at the iconography. He is made to look statuesque, with an aura of light behind him, as if he were sent to us by God himself. It's just plain wrong.

Oh, and all of the minority voters who came out and voted in record numbers... for this election. Did no other election matter to them? Or was it just because a minority candidate was running? I honestly have to ask the question.


Ultimately, I hope he does what's best for the country. I've got no other choice but to hope for this and for the future. Though if Rev. Wright is holding the Bible as he's sworn in, I don't know what I'd do. The same goes for Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. Fuck hatemongers.

[Taco-Calamitous]

I voted for Frank Moore. Not because I thought he'd do a great job, but because I didn't particularly care for the other candidates enough to give them my vote.

I figured Obama would win in the weeks leading up to the election, though, simply because of the way my local elections were going. The way Gordon Smith, a seasoned and good Republican Senator who actually had several liberal stances, was being beat by Jeff Merkley the sleeze ball, whose campaign consisted completely of mud-slinging; he did not have a single commercial that I saw that did not attack Smith in some way. He didn't even really say what he was going to do, either. Yet people seem to be voting him in over Smith, because Smith is a Republican, and Republicans are evil. One of my friends even talked to his parents about it; they hate Merkley because he's a dumbass, but hate Smith because he's a Republican. And they voted Merkley in so he could "help support Obama in the senate." People did not vote Democrat; they voted anti-Republican. Voting along party lines pisses me the fuck off. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[Sean]

The way I viewed it is that Obama just told Americans what they wanted to hear. If he follows through on it, great, but faced with a choice between McCain and Obama, I'm satisfied the lesser of the two evils (in my eyes) won the election.

I'm not holding my breath, I fully expect 8 more years of incompetency in the White House, but at least now I have a glimmer of hope.

McCain had my support early in the race. By early, I mean before he opened his mouth, and before anyone in America knew who the **** Sarah Palin was.

At the end of it all, I simply voted against McCain for two reasons: his age, and Palin as his VP. That's a scary ****ing thought to me. Scarier than so-called socialism by Obama. This was a really tough choice for me to make in voting for Obama, and I'll be ****ing furious if it turns out to be a bad one on my end. Democracy in the hands of millions of idiots, overall, is a scary form of government. There were better candidates than both of these guys.


I'm sick and tired of hearing the race card. I'm tired of African-Americans feeling more empowered than before because Obama's HALF black. I'm sick of hearing about how all these people voted for him BECAUSE he was balck... I didn't even SEE a color when I checked that "Obama" box. I'm sick of the assholes he's associated himself with to win the black vote, and.. you know what. I'm sick of politics.

Done.

[Pete]

The way I see it now though, Sean, is that black people can't bitch any more about being oppressed, and can't say stupid shit like the "white man is keeping them down." And it ultimately shows that yes, a black man can be elected president...

even if the only thing his black father did for him was give him that skin color.

Opie and Anthony said it best "He's a white guy with an African dad."


But yeah, it's absolutely retarded that people voted for a man because of the color of his skin. It really makes you think that its still 1955.

[Furore]

Not really a big fan of world politics, but even the stuff filtered down to Australian TV that I caught every so often seemed to be almost completely pro-Obama. I think even Oprah Winfry(sp?) was promoting the guy on her show around midday a month or three ago.

As it was I figured it was a sure bet the guy would win, so I bet $50 on him winning presidency. Unfortunately by the time I had, the odds were that high on his win I only made a $25 profit. But then again profit is profit, thank you Mr. Obama.

But yeah, I don't really care. If he's hated he'll either get assassinated or get voted out of office like Bush eventually was. If he does a good job, who's complaining? I get the feeling he'll do better than Bush did regardless of how things turn out.

[Pete]

A few things on that Nathan,

Oprah gave him 100% support and was as pro-Obama as much as I've ever seen anyone in a presidential race. And for ****'s sake, it's Oprah. If you have her backing you, you're pretty much golden in anything you do. To be fair though, they are both based in the same state, and he was on the show back when he was a relative unknown.

You Aussies actually had legit Vegas-style betting going on for the presidency? That's actually pretty cool and funny.

And Bush wasn't voted out of office, his term limits were up. In the US, you get a max of two, four-year terms. I guess that doesn't matter so much, seeing as Bush would've been booted anyway.

Though betting on the presidency is pretty funny and ridiculous. Did you make the bet with a friend or was it through a legit betting service? And where did you wind up getting the betting odds? This is just really interesting to me.

[Furore]

A few things on that Nathan,

Oprah gave him 100% support and was as pro-Obama as much as I've ever seen anyone in a presidential race. And for ****'s sake, it's Oprah. If you have her backing you, you're pretty much golden in anything you do. To be fair though, they are both based in the same state, and he was on the show back when he was a relative unknown.

You Aussies actually had legit Vegas-style betting going on for the presidency? That's actually pretty cool and funny.

And Bush wasn't voted out of office, his term limits were up. In the US, you get a max of two, four-year terms. I guess that doesn't matter so much, seeing as Bush would've been booted anyway.

Though betting on the presidency is pretty funny and ridiculous. Did you make the bet with a friend or was it through a legit betting service? And where did you wind up getting the betting odds? This is just really interesting to me.

Maybe not exactly legit.
You can bet on almost everything if you know the right people though.

And yeah, the bush bit was an error on my part. I meant leave the office after the term was served.

It wasn't legit betting and the odds as with most things keep changing as new developments are made. If I'd bet money earlier when people were thinking black hate might've stopped him from getting in I could have made a killing... But yeah at the time it was almost certain Obama would win so if you bet on him you'd make your bet and a half back. I believe by this time you'd triple your money if you bet on McCain and he won, though don't quote me on that.