It means that we as a people MADE it to the promised land.

It means that Thomas Schaller was and is wrong about writing off the South for Democrats. Virginia has shifted to a state with all-Dem top leadership and looks likely to stay that way. North Carolina has shifted to a swing state, and in another cycle will probably follow Virginia into solidly Democrat territory. Florida (semi-South at least) went Democrat. But still, in Schaller's heartland that he swears is ripe for flipping, a solid red block ran from Texas to the Canada border. Mark my words, the South will flip, and stay flipped, long before a single state in the Texas-to-North Dakota band will flip.

... in a few days, all this bulls**t will end and we can get on with cleaning up Bushie's mess.

Obama's victory means an end to the groupthink that was a hallmark of the Bush administration (as well as the Christian Nationalist dominated GOP).

It also marks a beginning in which the government will actually think about the local, national and global ramifications to their actions.

The US has adult supervision again!

...that young black men have a new role model to look up to; one who values thinking, one who didn't let a difficult childhood stop him from reaching an audacious goal, one who exudes class in his speech and dress, and one who can hold his own on a basketball court, too.

thanks to 70% of blacks voting in favor of Prop. 8

"I do not support gay marriage. Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between a man and a woman." (From the Human Rights Campaign's 2008 Presidential questionnaire) - Barack Hussein Obama

It would be great to hear from the "other side" re: how they feel about an Obama victory if any of their points were based in reality.

I am uninterested in hearing people tell me we have "voted a socialist into office," I know the definition of socialism and that Obama is not one. We have accepted a graduated income tax for quite awhile now without Nationalizing all our resources. Now is the time for those who are better off to pay more. Paying taxes IS patriotic and I will happily pay more if that's what it takes to lessen suffering at the lower end.

I don't want to hear the "muslim" Obama will immediately capitulate to Islamofascists; I know the vast majority of Muslims in the world want peace as fervently as I do.

I would like to hear how their idea of the "free market" being the arbiter of all good things has changed given the reality of it's encouragement of greed and excess profit taking (to the detriment of those actually doing the work which gave them those profits) but not if they are going to say we just didn't give the markets ENOUGH freedom.

The reality is right-wing free market ideas have plowed the US, its economy, it's social order, and it's reputation directly into the ground, HARD. The dialog begins with their acknowledgment of this fact.

Salon is obviously a left-leaning opinion journal - and I am pretty left myself. But how about hearing from some of the people who might not be so happy that Obama won? What does it mean to an NRA official, an evangelical church leader, a right-wing blogger, a conservative think tank official, etc. etc.? Let's get some 'red' voices into this discussion, the President-elect's statements about one America notwithstanding!

maybe it means America will finally try to understand and correct what caused 9/11 and will stop being so fearful of the real world.

We have entered the era of decline predicted by Alexis de Tocqueville about 160 years ago "The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

be one America.

That just sucks.

Not true at all where I live though, which is one of the many reasons I love it here!

She is in 8th grade and a classmate told her today, that Obama won't be President for several months but "she already feels safer".

The powers of good have risen. The kids get it.

It means people who have been struggling with a horrific economy since 2001 won't be told it is their imagination, nor the result of bad attitudes while Republicans trot out bogus indicators and pretend Wall Street increases mean jobs.

Except...by Republicans....

It means he's been given the opportunity to:

1. Create more jobs

2. create an Affordable healthcare plan available for everyone;

3. keep our country secure

4. Eliminate waste/pork in the federal government;

5. Enforce tax laws so that everyone pays their fair share;

6. Reduce the deficit

His success as a president should be judged on whether or not he's successful with these issues. I know that's how I'll decide who to vote for in 4 years.

Yep, it's true. More whites voted for McCain than Obama.

http://voices.kansascity.com/node/2709

Someone wrote: "More whites voted for McCain than for Obama"

Uh, not where I live and not any of my friends, colleagues or random acquaintances.

One thing this election did was to put to rest the angry left canard about Republicans stealing elections, stealing Florida in 2000, stealing Ohio in 2004. Or the massive Deibold conspiracy, or vote suppression, or a hundred other loony-left conspiracy theories.

Um...no. A successful election for Dems in 2008 does not mean that there was no republican election rigging in 2000, 2004 or 2008. In fact, there almost certainly was in all 3 elections.

In 2000, the election rigging was most notably by Kathleen Harris who removed 90,000 non-felons from the voter rolls, the big majority democrats.

In 2004, all manner of shenanigan took place in Ohio.

In 2008, I've read several reports of similar vote caging or intimidation.

The difference of 2008 versus 2000 and 2004 is in the size of Obama's win. Republican vote rigging seems to be able to make up 1 or 2 percentage points in a battleground state, but can't reverse a landslide.

What I've learned from Obama's victory is what I learned from watching bullies in school get their just desserts: the bullies are not strong, not clever, not respectable, and once they're stripped of their guise as the "strong man," all that becomes immediately clear. Ding dong the witch is dead!!!