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United States Politics

Barack Obama Wins US Presidency 3709

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.
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Barack Obama Wins US Presidency

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  • by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn&gmail,com> on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:32AM (#25639107) Journal
    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.
    • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:35AM (#25639167)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • by theM_xl ( 760570 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:48AM (#25639395)

        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.

      • by Pedrito ( 94783 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @10:22AM (#25640297)

        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!

        Normally, I might agree with you, but a lot of those Republicans are coming up for election in 2010, and most of them are actually smart enough to read the writing on the wall. Filibustering every issue will not bode well for their chances for re-election, and they know it. I think Obama is going to be able to get a lot more done than some people think.

    • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:38AM (#25639217)

      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.

      • by Cerberus7 ( 66071 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:47AM (#25639379)

        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.

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:41AM (#25639297)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by betterunixthanunix ( 980855 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:52AM (#25639481)
      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.
    • by aliquis ( 678370 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @10:01AM (#25639697)

      Lagom? lol, first time ever I've seen the word spread outside of Sweden :D

      It's finally happening! After hundreds of years borrowing english, latin, german and french words our time has come! If only we built some new castles to! (On that topic, how nice to know we are shutting down all our military really fast nowadays while the russians are mobilising [jamestown.org] (though probably not to invade us :D))

      Somewhat off-topic I know, but I can handle the negative moderation for spreading this awesome news about how we'll take over the world thru lagom!

  • by carbon 68k ( 309023 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:32AM (#25639111)

    A fellow bar patron put it best:

    "BLUE TEAM WINS"

  • by Noryungi ( 70322 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:32AM (#25639115) Homepage Journal

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

  • by PIPBoy3000 ( 619296 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:32AM (#25639121)
    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.
  • by bugeaterr ( 836984 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:33AM (#25639127)

    Thoroughly, and decisively, re-arranged.

  • by Kenoli ( 934612 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:36AM (#25639181)
  • What? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:36AM (#25639185)
    Oh, there was an election?
  • Reputation (Score:5, Insightful)

    by radius1214 ( 1082581 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:37AM (#25639199) Homepage
    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.
  • by s0litaire ( 1205168 ) * on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:37AM (#25639201)
    This Scot, for one, welcomes our Democraticly elected African-American overlord :D
  • by bugeaterr ( 836984 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:37AM (#25639205)

    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.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:38AM (#25639233)

    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.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:39AM (#25639263)

    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.

  • by Drakkenmensch ( 1255800 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:40AM (#25639269)
    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.
  • Hope and fear (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Cro Magnon ( 467622 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:40AM (#25639275) Homepage Journal

    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 (Score:5, Funny)

    by hansamurai ( 907719 ) <hansamurai@gmail.com> on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:41AM (#25639291) Homepage Journal

    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 (Score:5, Funny)

      by orzetto ( 545509 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:56AM (#25639567)

      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.

  • by DanWS6 ( 1248650 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:43AM (#25639311)
    all of the campaign ads so I can slowly wean myself off instead of going cold turkey.
  • by shma ( 863063 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:47AM (#25639389)
    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.
    • by maz2331 ( 1104901 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @10:28AM (#25640443)

      They know he'll be expelled, but that the Governor (
      Palin) will appoint his successor to serve out the rest of the term.

      It was basically a choice of "yes" or "no" to giving a Republican seat to the Democrats.

      Everyone knows Stevens is going to prison. His reelection just serves as a placeholder for the person who's actually going to take the Senate seat in his stead.

      I don't believe that the Governor can appoint herself to the post, so at least the Democrats don't have to worry about hearing the words "Senator Palin".

  • by 91degrees ( 207121 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:48AM (#25639401) Journal
    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.
  • by Rik Sweeney ( 471717 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:50AM (#25639445) Homepage

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

  • As an european... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Nuffsaid ( 855987 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @10:05AM (#25639809)
    As a male white Italian with no involvement into USA elections, I have to admit that this morning I cried and laughed hearing what just happened in a big nation far far away. This changes everything. The politics of fear will end. Black people won't be seen "out of place" in any place from now on. Things won't go worse all the time, like last years made us think! A big thank you to the US people. This affects us all.
  • by gsn ( 989808 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @10:06AM (#25639835)

    I'm not American and couldn't vote but I've spent all my adult life here and the last eight years have affected my life in much the same ways it affected yours. I'm very glad there were record turnouts, whoever you voted for.

    I think its good to recognize this as a historic and important moment. I stayed up all night working and listening to the coverage. It is a night I'll remember and I'm admittedly quite happy. Certainly, there is hope, a word I haven't heard much off since 2001. I'm very glad that he acknowledged that the real work lies ahead and that it will take a spirit of service and sacrifice and both of them talked about coming together and bridging the gaps that have cut this nation.

    Bridging gaps is a hugely critical message today. There is an interesting discordant note between all the commentators speaking about how this marks the end of slavery and the fruition of the civil rights movement and the change of a generation, and what looks like a yes vote on Proposition 8 in California. When the dust has settled, there is going to be much talk about the way different demographics voted and the gaps that represents. I hope it will not take 40 years for all of us to recognize that in the end, beyond nationality, skin colour, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or background, we are all just human beings.

  • by The Ultimate Fartkno ( 756456 ) on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @10:11AM (#25639961)

    ...is the international reaction to Obama's win. I knew that the reputation of America and Americans had been battered over the past few years, but I never suspected that it was as bad as it was. I watched the results last night, said a little "huzzah!" when Obama was declared, listened as McCain gave a warm, dignified, and gentlemanly concession speech, and then went to bed thinking I'd seen it all. I woke up at about 4:45 this morning and I've been flipping between news stations ever since. I got a little emotional last night during the speeches, but I'm absolutely devastated by the number of non-Americans who are dancing in the streets over Obama's win. I never thought I'd see video of a few hundred Chinese people jumping around and chanting "Obama! Obama!" A reporter in France walked up to a woman and simply said "Obama?" Her face lit up and she simply said "C'est formidable!" Kenyans are throwing feasts in his honor. Arab and Persian states are happy. Israel is happy. Pakistan is happy. Australians are losing their damned minds over it. Russia is... well, they're kinda grumpy, but they're not having a good year. And all morning I've been hitting my usual haunts (/., Fark, CNN, BBC, & more) and I keep seeing messages posted by people from a zillion different countries congratulating us and thanking us for "making the right choice." Before you ask, yes I voted for him, no, I don't think he's the messiah, and yes, I'm still pissed at him for breaking his promise over campaign financing. But even with all that, I still can't shake the feeling that something *seriously* important happened last night. I'm almost 40, so I've seen a few elections, but never in my life have I seen or felt the kind of excitement that's in the air right now. It seems like all sorts of barriers have just... vanished. Racial, political, international, interpersonal, it just all seems different now. I know that part of it is just the morning-after buzz of having your candidate win, but there's something special about having a friend email you and tell you how they got hugged twice in Germany while wearing an Obama t-shirt and walking to the bakery on the corner, then reading a post that says "The Netherlands are happy for you!" The world stood up and took notice of us this morning. I hope he doesn't let us down.

    Thus endeth my waxing philosophical.

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. -- Thomas Edison

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