YES WE DID!

I’ve been up most of the night. There is simply no way that I can, in my present state, write coherently about what the world has witnessed tonight. My father who, in his exuberance, forgot all about time zones and called me at five thirty this morning echoed the feelings of millions, “I never thought that I would live to see a black man become president, it brought tears to my eyes. I can’t help but think this is going to make a hell of a difference in America and around the world. The difference between his [Obama’s] reasoned, sane approach and the insanity of the past eight years.”

This victory is only the end of the beginning. Never mind the talk about Obama’s first 100 days- it could take a hundred years to reverse the damage caused by nearly a decade of Republican domination. Lest we forget that bigotry is alive and well, even in a solidly blue state, the ban on same-sex marriage is looking likely to pass in California. The struggle continues.

Setting aside my exhausted amazement and joy, I am still rational enough to know that the problems that faced the US and the world on November 3rd are still there on November 5th. Obama has taken over as captain of a ship that has already sunk and it is difficult to fathom how he and his team are going to begin patching the holes and pumping the water out.

Unquestionably he is going to make mistakes and many of his decisions will anger a good many people on both sides of the aisle: nothing is so fleeting as a President’s high approval rating. However, if anyone in American politics is capable of learning from their missteps and not repeating them it is Obama. He had the keen understanding that wining the Democratic Primary was not the same as winning the Presidency and never for one second settled into a pattern of political sloth or hubris.

I should remind my European friends that under Obama you will not see a sudden transformation of America into a gentle giant. No one gets to be President of the US without an ironclad belief in American supremacy. The tone will change, the communication will improve, some of the more oppressive foreign polices will be scrapped or modified but Obama believes that the US should be a shining light on the world stage and not merely a bit player in a global version of an off-Broadway road-show. No matter how liberal or progressive, every single American is at heart a fanatic patriot and such feelings cannot but influence the international dialogue.

It has been a long, somewhat tearful night and I am emotionally spent. In two-hours I have to be in a soul-sucking meeting and at first light tomorrow I’m due to be on a plane for somewhere. I will leave the in-depth analysis to the pros of the press and the hacks in the blogsphere but right now, I need a shave.