Barack Obama Wins US Presidency

Last night, around 11pm, all the major networks announced that Senator Barack Obama had won the election. Soon after, Senator McCain conceded. There were no crazy partisan court hearings, just a simple election. This is your chance to talk about it and what it means for the future of our nation.

I'll Tell You What It Means

[eldavojohn (898314)]

It means the Democrats finally have a chance to screw everything up. By my count there are 56 D to 40 R in the Senate and 251 D to 173 R in the House. While there's still a few undecided yet, that's Democratic control of the Legislative and Executive Branches. Normally I like to see these things divided between the two parties so nobody gets too far away from lagom.

Re:I'll Tell You What It Means

[liquidpele (663430)]

As long as the senate can still filibuster, nothing too crazy will get through. If a party ever got 60 senators though, God help us!

Re:I'll Tell You What It Means

[theM_xl (760570)]

The Dems may actually get 60. They're at 56 now and there's still 4 seats in the "too close to tell right now" territory.

Re:I'll Tell You What It Means

[by Anonymous Coward]

Everything is already screwed up about as bad as it can get. There is some serious "left" listing that needs to happen to put us back on course.

Re:I'll Tell You What It Means

[Cerberus7 (66071)]

I wish I could mod that up, because that's exactly why I voted the way I did this election. I voted D straight down the list for the first time ever. No mix and match, no attempt at balance. Straight Democrat. I feel a little dirty, but it needed to be done, and for the first time since I've been able to vote, I actually have hope that maybe this time it will be different. I was well on my way to becoming disillusioned and apathetic, but this time I care, and I'm hopeful.

Re:I'll Tell You What It Means

[falcon5768 (629591)]

First off, we haven't had a divided government since 06. And JUST because the Dems control the government doesn't mean its in any way a clean slate. Obama is not a normal Dem, he is a moderate in many ways (even though the Repugs tried to claim he was this super liberal which is more what his running mate is) And they are on notice. The Dems didnt get the magic 60, they WANT that filibuster proof margin and before they get it they have to cater to at least the fiscally conservative republicans to get them on their side. We dont have a Carter administration here, we have a whole different setup.

Re:I'll Tell You What It Means

[falcon5768 (629591)]

Not insane or clueless, just dont read neo-con trash mags like Drudge, Fox News, and the National Journal. You hardly prove your point by posting links to known ultra-conservative sites. You could have posted a link to Stormfront for all that matters to try to prove your point.

Democrats and Republicans represent the same ideal

[betterunixthanunix (980855)]

A person who lived through the collapse of the soviet union once pointed out that in America, the only relevant political parties are the Capitalist party and the Capitalist party. Democrats and Republicans disagree on a handful of very minor issues, despite all the media trumpeting about one being "left" and one being "right." The Democrats will still pass legislation that favours big businesses, just a different group of businesses. No president since the 1950s has served an entire term without engaging America in some foreign conflict. The use of signals intelligence operations to spy on foreign businesses and pass along their trade secrets to US businesses has occurred during both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and during both Democrat and Republican control of Congress.

If America wanted serious change, change that was not just superficial, then one of the third party candidates would have one.

At the very least, it is a good thing that the neoconservative movement appears to have weakened a bit in this election. Do not confuse neoconservative and Republican -- while most neocons are Republicans, most Republicans are not neoconservative and many Republicans found the neoconservatives to be embarrassing.

Drunk wisdom

[carbon 68k (309023)]

A fellow bar patron put it best:

"BLUE TEAM WINS"

First thing I thought about...

[Noryungi (70322)]

Rev. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream".

Re:First thing I thought about...

[TheSpoom (715771)]

Or maybe you shouldn't be using a dead person's hypothetical opinions to promote your own agenda.

Re:First thing I thought about...

[Anne_Nonymous (313852)]

Skim MLK?

Re:First thing I thought about...

[VJ42 (860241)]

I voted for Obama, but he's not even close to MLK.

I think that the GP meant that MLK's famous dream has been fulfilled, not that Obama is somehow as great as Dr King.

My own opinion chimes with that of one of our most famous leaders: "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else." - Winston Chirchill [thinkexist.com]. After the world suffering eight years of GWB, the quote somehow seemed appropriate.

Fallout from the election

[PIPBoy3000 (619296)]

I think Washington D.C. will become a radioactive wasteland and the survivors will spend their waking hours hunting mutant ants in collapsed subways.

Oh, wait. My copy of Fallout 3 arrived yesterday and that's all I can think about.

Deck chairs on the Titanic

[bugeaterr (836984)]

Thoroughly, and decisively, re-arranged.

C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!

[Kenoli (934612)]

http://i33.tinypic.com/zx6yi8.jpg [tinypic.com]

Re:C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!

[hansamurai (907719)]

For some reason that picture makes me hungry for some KFC.

What?

[by Anonymous Coward]

Oh, there was an election?

Reputation

[radius1214 (1082581)]

I firmly believe that Barack Obama is going to bring the change we need to alter the way the world see us. We need to earn back a little of our reputation that the eight previous years have lost us. We need to talk, discuss, and use diplomacy instead of force. I'm very glad that Obama won. I sincerely hope that he can keep all his promises he made to the American people, and with control of the house and senate, it looks likely that he won't have any trouble passing bills.

Re:Reputation

[Jedi Alec (258881)]

Why do you care how we look to the rest of the world? Let's worry about the problems in our country. I really don't give two shits about how some snoppy European views our country.

Great! Recall the troops from Afghanistan guys! The Yanks can handle it by themselves.

Re:Reputation

[tftp (111690)]

Why do you care how we look to the rest of the world? Let's worry about the problems in our country.

Those two issues are related.

Re:Reputation

[Evanisincontrol (830057)]

Why do you care how we look to the rest of the world? Let's worry about the problems in our country. I really don't give two shits about how some snoppy European views our country.

Yeah, I mean, it's not like foreign policy really has any effect at all on the way our country is run or anything.

Strange no one has mentioned this but..

[s0litaire (1205168)]

This Scot, for one, welcomes our Democraticly elected African-American overlord :D

The party of big government

[bugeaterr (836984)]

The party of big government soundly defeated the other party of big government.

Too bad for those of us who think the government is getting dangerously big.
15 million people are employed by, and have a vested interest in an the size and power of, the federal government, let alone state and local.

As a Canadian, let me say...

[by Anonymous Coward]

Well done, America. You've taken your first step toward re-establishing your international credibility by voting out the Republicans, who have played a large part in engineering the current state of international affairs. We recognize that your country is in a pretty deep hole left by the last administration, but we trust you'll do your best.

Thanks, American voters.

[by Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure I'll be modded out, but as an Australian... can I just say, THANK YOU America for making the right decision.

Your country has a huge influence on us and I am so glad you are taking a positive step forward into what I hope will be a new era for us all.

Congratulations on making a historic event happen

[Drakkenmensch (1255800)]

Watching on CNN the sea of people in Chicago cheering for President Elect Obama and his victory speech convinced me that this was one of those unique moments, the kind that people decades from now will remember and ask each other "Do you remember where you were when Obama was elected?" Truly a great moment.

Re:Congratulations on making a historic event happ

[Rogerborg (306625)]

I was writing joystick handling code on a Ubuntu install running under VMware. Truly, a momentous occasion.

Hope and fear

[Cro Magnon (467622)]

Hope because the idiots that have been running the country for nearly a decade are gone, fear that the new bunch of idiots aren't any better.

Ron Paul

[hansamurai (907719)]

This was easily the best election I ever participated in. Mostly because of Ron Paul. He opened my eyes to real liberty and true freedoms, and I've been a changed person man ever since. I'm not going to take crap from the two parties sitting down anymore, and I have real hope for this country, that someday we all might really be free from the federal government. I was also exposed to Ayn Rand and read her fiction, and really enjoyed it.

I wrote Ron Paul in, and I was beyond happy the rest of the day. It honestly felt awesome to vote for someone that I honestly believe in, an opportunity I've never taken before.

Re:Ron Paul

[orzetto (545509)]

I was also exposed to Ayn Rand

Please report immediately to decontamination area 4. Remember to burn all your clothes. Exposed items you wish to decontaminate must be collected in a sealed, transparent plastic bag and handed in to the paramedical personnel at your decontamination area.

I recorded..

[DanWS6 (1248650)]

all of the campaign ads so I can slowly wean myself off instead of going cold turkey.

The Real Surprise is in Alaska

[shma (863063)]

Obama's win was widely predicted, although most people underestimated his support (right now, it looks like he will take 364 electoral votes).

The biggest surprise of the night is in Alaska, where against all odds, they elected [alaska.net] a convicted criminal [nytimes.com] to the US senate.

Oh goshdarnit! That other guy git in

[91degrees (207121)]

What's his name again? Sadam Hussain Obama Bin Laden or something. Now if that ain't a Muslim name I don't know what is. America is meant to be a Christian country. It says so right there in the First Amendment, and it was that way back when we were founded by Jey-sus in 0AD. And now he's goin' to make an Oath on the Koran, change us all into Muslims and move the US to the middle east and we'll all have to join Al Quaeda and blow ourselves up. I don't know what I'm gonna do.

Obligitory Simpsons

[Rik Sweeney (471717)]

Kent Brockman: I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply doesn't work.

Re:Two words

[GigaHurtsMyRobot (1143329)]

Let's hope

Re:Two words

[by Anonymous Coward]

Why? Did he vote?

Re:Two words

[s0litaire (1205168)]

Yup! he voted for his son, Obama... :D

Re:Two words

[neoform (551705)]

The whole world agrees with those sentiments.

Re:Two words

[canUbeleiveIT (787307)]

I have never seen such hysteria for a candidate in my life. With the type of overwrought messianic expectations that he faces, there is no way to go for Obama but down.

I'm not saying that he deserves it, but when these pie-in-the-sky types realize that he is human like the rest, and that he won't be able to wipe the tear from every eye, his approval rating will take a serious hit.

Re:Two words

[Jedi Alec (258881)]

I have never seen such hysteria for a candidate in my life. With the type of overwrought messianic expectations that he faces, there is no way to go for Obama but down.

I'm not saying that he deserves it, but when these pie-in-the-sky types realize that he is human like the rest, and that he won't be able to wipe the tear from every eye, his approval rating will take a serious hit.

As far as a good part of the rest of the world...we don't think you elected a messiah. We're just glad you didn't elect the 3rd incarnation of the fucking antichrist.

Re:Two words

[ByOhTek (1181381)]

Where have you been the past 8 years?

Anyway, I can't say Obama would be significantly better (or worse) than McCain, McCain just too much risk of Palin becoming president. I think she would have made us look back on the "golden years of Bush"

Re:Two words

[dbIII (701233)]

Why? Is Obama really that much better than McCain? Would McCain have been worse than Bush?

No, however you would have had to put up with a lot of the status quo since even the most honest of Republicans would find it difficult to remove the most corrupt or incompetant entrenched in various nooks and crannies. The same could apply if there had been a corrupt Democrat administration but it would take a few years with nobody really watching before that could happen while some of the current crooks have should have rap sheets dating back to Nixon's administration.

One thing I've noticed from being in a place that had a far more corrupt government is that the replacements make an effort to try to be squeaky clean even if is against their nature. Also the Republicans now have a chance to purge criminal elements which they would not have if they had won, so I think it's better for them and the USA than if they had won. The bizzare shift to Monarchy within the Republican party and the rest of the odd neocon agenda has hopefully been laid to rest with this election if it wasn't already.

Re:Two words

[Bloodoflethe (1058166)]

I think the thank god was in reference to the no recount. I could be wrong, but that is what my 'Thank God' reaction was aimed at.

Re:United States Socialist Republic

[antiaktiv (848995)]

I can't tell if this is a joke or not, but people all over the world are laughing at the notion of Obama being a socialist. As in the 90s, at least we can rejoice over the lesser of two evils winning.

Re:United States Socialist Republic

[falcon5768 (629591)]

They are laughing at the fact the republicans THOUGHT he was. There was nothing socialist he was proposing that we are not already doing, and nearly half our friends we terms a "democracy" are truthfully socialist democracies. The socialist claim was truly one of the STUPIDEST moves the neocons could have pulled, especially when their darling base polarizing vise prez nominee actually PRACTICED socialism by redirecting oil drilling profits to state residence.

Re:W00t! Welfare for all!

[Il128 (467312)]

Under Bush we all got "Stimulus checks" redistribution of wealth, we "nationalized banks", we "nationalized insurance companies", we "nationalized brokerage houses", and we gave trillions in welfare to Iraq...

And now you're worried about socialism? Welcome to last year.

where are mod points where you need them

[pimpimpim (811140)]

Nicely put!

As far as the new president is concerned: the guy has a lot of shit to clean up now, and we don't even know what's still coming. He will have to take a lot of unpopular measures, and I really wonder if he can keep a high popularity for long.

Re:Finally!

[st0rmshad0w (412661)]

Well honestly what can you expect, when the last band of idiots was allowed to run up a 7 trillion dollar deficit? SOMEONE is going to have to pay that off.

Re:All I can say now is...

[bigmouth_strikes (224629)]

Yeah, you're absolutely right. It's going to take a lot of hard work to undo the backward progress and bad decisions that the Bush gov't lied and cheated the American people into. But it's a serious job for grown-ups who are not afraid let reason and long-term strategy prevail, instead of fighting fire with fire 'til the house is burnt down. Luckily, there will soon be a responsible adult in the White House.