What a Night!

As I sat on my couch last night and watched the map on tv turn red and blue I felt proud. I was proud of my country that finally seems to "get it". The numbers of voters were outstanding. People didn't just sit back complacently, they got involved. The young, the old, and so many in between. It was just a really nice feeling of unity and patriotism, no matter which candidate we were all for.
Of course I am thrilled with the outcome! I really, truly feel that the right man was elected at the right time. There are not many people who can (or would) argue that this country hasn't been on a downward spiral for quite some time now. We are in desperate need of some REAL change. Let's hope that the congress and the new president can all come together and make some of that change happen.
Let me make it clear that contrary to what you may think, I do not hate John McCain (it is a completely different story with Sarah Palin). I think he is a smart, savvy, courageous politician. I just don't agree with him on his policies and views. I thought his concession speech was really great. It felt real and made even this liberal democrat feel a pang of sorrow for him. But not too much. I was way too over the moon happy about Obama winning to feel to bad for the republicans last night.
So that is that. The election is over. I still live in a very red state (Buchanan and Tiahrt both won...again), but I live in a country that has come so far. I live in a country that elected it's first African American to lead our country when not so long ago he wouldn't have even been allowed to vote. I can only think that this is opening the door for so many great people to run for our highest office that wouldn't have been considered last election. No matter the race, no matter the gender, no matter the economic status or sexual orientation or any other distinguishing characteristic...the dream is alive. All of our kids can have realistic dreams about becoming president when they grow up. We really have come so far! Go Obama!!