Posted by spoonman Wednesday 12 November, 2008 02:06 AM
An historic election result. The turning of a new page in the book of America. A new dawn. The fulfilment of the hopes of a generation or two of civil rights campaigners. A sublime moment.
These are some of the comments from supporters of Democratic President-elect Barack Obama after his stunning and comprehensive victory on Wednesday (our time).
Republicans especially the hard-core religious right-wing of the party have reacted with fear and loathing at the concept of a coloured President in the White House.
Security around Obama and his famnily has been ramped up. Because the only hope the religious right and the white-supremecist militias like the KKK have to keep the black guy out, is to kill him.
Yes, I still think there will be attempts made to assassinate Obama, mainly because of history.
Every time a major political 'agent of change' rises to the top of the pile in America, they get shot by some nutter.
Think a couple of Kennedy's, Harvey Milk, and of course, Martin Luther King Jr, who has been much quoted in relation to Obama¹s win.
Obama's messages of inclusion will rile those who think they have some god-given right to tell everyone else what their station in life should be, or who see him as an impediment to their getting or staying rich.
But this wasn¹t just Obama picking up a couple of red states to claim victory. He not only won all the Democrat states, but a heap of nominal Republican states too.
At his victory speech in Chicago around a million people turned out. They were white, black, Hispanic, Asian, men and women, young and old - about as good a cross section of modern America as you¹re likely to see in one place at the same time.
Young people usually accused of political apathy turned out in droves to vote for Obama.
Make no mistake, Obama represents generational change and cultural change and policy change.
The question is, can he deliver on his promises? Time will tell.
But clearly there is a new sense of hope in America and around the world following Obama's victory.
And in a world full of doom and gloom, you would be a fool to discount the positive effect of hope.
For example, in a CNN poll of people in 22 countries around the world, every single one of them returned a preference for Barack Obama, usually by a factor of around 3 or 4.
For his part, the 72 year old Republican candidate John McCain was most gracious in defeat (despite the jeers for Obama from his partisan supporters).
McCain indicated he would work with Obama, but you¹d have to imagine he won¹t serve in the Senate for too much longer.
Sarah Palin will be but a footnote to history, despite some pundits claiming she will be the Republican challenger in 4 years time. Unlikely, in my view.
Her far right Republican support base is just too narrow.
And as I predicted weeks ago, Joe the Plumber was nothing more than a sideshow.
For what it¹s worth, the Democrats have increased their majority in the House of Reps and they now also have a clear majority in the Senate, where they previously only had the numbers thanks to a couple of independents.
So there is now a massive opportunity for Barack Obama to actually do what he said he will, without any blocking of his reform bills in the Congress.
Though the last time the Democrats held the White and Congress they went all stupid and ultra-left. Obama will need to keep a tight reign on his party on that basis or his honeymoon period will be short.
So what does this mean for Australia?
There¹s not much doubt that the Australia USA relationship will remain strong. But it won¹t be the same as the Bush - Howard relationship. Maybe not a bad thing.
Kevin Rudd made it clear that he will make a supreme effort to develop good relations with the Obama administration. To that end, the pair spoke on the phone on Friday (our time).
Rudd has already made an impression on Barack Obama. The Democrats were observing very closely our Œchange¹ election last year and they liked what they saw.
An Obama administration may well use Kevin Rudd as a partner of sorts when it comes to relations with China. Obama's team has already flagged that.
But it remains to be seen how economically isolationist America may become as Obama attempts to stop American jobs moving off-shore and to what extent Australia's preferential trade status with the USA will be maintained.
Rudd and Obama will also work together on climate change issues once the financial meltdown is sorted out.
As the US pulls out of Iraq, we will too. But I would expect many of those troops will find themselves fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan instead.
But the very best thing about today is that we can finally see the end of George W Bush and his insane posse.
The Bush legacy isn¹t great. $11 trillion plus in national debt. A trillion dollar budget deficit. A housing crisis. A global financial meltdown. A recession. Rising unemployment. Two un-won wars. No action on climate change worth mentioning, even after the debacle of New Orleans. And after 8 years he failed to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.
You can only argue he didn't want to catch Bin Laden, given the business ties the Bush family has with the Bin Ladens. It would also be much harder to wage the War on Terror with Bin Laden in custody or dead. Most Americans would think that signalled the end of it.
The best you can say is that Bush prevented any further terror attacks on US soil. But if you buy into the 9/11 conspiracies, that won¹t be a surprise.
But can Obama bring about a new America?
An America that once again has the respect of the rest of the world.
An America seen as a global partner not a global pariah.
An America the only global superpower at the moment that might sow the seeds of progress and development and unity and sanity.
Yet, we would all be naïve to imagine that Obama is not facing some of the biggest challenges to ever confront a new President, at least in recent times.
Change never comes easy. It will run up against the walls of vested interest. Vested interest always likes the status quo maintained.
Barack Obama will have to hit the ground running, such is the combined scale of the problems he faces.
But the Americans or at least a significant majority of those who bothered to vote seem to believe that Obama is the man for the moment. That he can do it. That there is hope.
Do you share the sense of hope that seems to be rippling around the globe at the moment?
Do you believe that Obama is the man to lead the world into better times?
Is he really the agent of change this planet so desperately needs?
So what is your take on the biggest political about-face in recent years?
Because it is hard to imagine the country that voted George W Bush back into power 4 years ago is the same place that just overwhelmingly elected its first black president.
Or is too much hope a dangerous commodity in these troubled times?
Because when hopes rise too far too quickly, and are not met with reality, those diminished expectations can quickly turn into despair.
Over to you.....
