What Happened and What's Next

So yesterday America has elected its first minority president, and while much of the media has been focusing on that, Obama has wasted in no time in getting to work. He has already formed his transition team and named his chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel. Today he received his first CIA briefing and the Treasury Department has said that it would welcome members of Obama's staff to start working as soon as possible to help with the financial crisis. (I'll be honest, I am quite surprised in such a display of bi-partisanship and cooperation from the Bush administration). The fact that Obama is not wasting anytime shows that he appreciates how much needs to be done in the next four years. The American people were longing for change and they found their man for change in Obama, and could not be more thrilled with last nights victory. It would be far to naive to expect that Obama will be able to suddenly restore America to its standing eight years ago with a flip of a switch and it will take a lot of work to begin rebuilding America. Sen. McCain's graceful concession shows us how much we need to unite and get back to work. Obama has promised the American people a lot and it will take much work and some time before we get there, but in no means is it impossible.

Many say the Republicans have not suffered such a defeat since post-Watergate and the party is in shambles. (As a Democrat, I am partially hoping that it stays this way). But what did the Republicans do after Watergate? They transformed themselves. Enter the Reagan Revolution, which was just pronounced dead last night. The Republicans ought to start focusing on the issues that really appeal to Americans. Stop talking about how much God means to you and how positive you are the Earth is six thousand years old and start talking about what your economic platform will do for Americans and why it will work. The public discourse was changed last night and my hope is that it becomes more civil with each cycle. The mud-slinging era of campaigning is continuing to be ushered out. The Democrats were seen as the party of hope and for change and that ultimately spelled the Republican's doom. I hope that in 2012, sensible Republicans won't have to proclaim how religious they are in order to secure the nomination and the debate will be more about issues that really matter when you're president. If the Republicans don't learn this lesson now, they eventually will. And that's the truth.