The results are not in, yet CBS news and Yahoo (and I'm sure several other sources) are calling the election for Senator Obama. I just watched Senator McCain's concession speech - a very fine one.
Congratulations to Senator Obama. He ran a good race, and he ran the better race.
While it looks like Senator Obama has won the election, it's important to note the margin at this time is less than 3 million votes - 51% for Senator Obama to 48% for Senator McCain as I sit down to type this. The electoral votes may seem rather skewed in Obama's favor, he won by getting one more vote in many states, rather than winning heartily. This is significant.
It's significant because it was a close election. Senator Obama has a narrow victory. His task is to understand that, and to govern accordingly. He is the President-elect of the entire nation, not just the 51% who voted for him and Senator Biden.
When I first started this blog, I wrote a post indicating that I would be critical of President Bush because he is the President. I also stated that I would have been critical of Senator Kerry had he won - possibly more critical than I was of President Bush as I am still unsure of who would have been worse. The point, though, is that I maintain this reservation to be critical of Senator Obama as President. This is his burden as President. One of his many burdens. His job starts very soon. Let's wish him the best, and wish the best for us.
2 comments:
I agree however I wouldn't down play the size of Obama's win quite that much. The last numbers I saw today showed that Obama won by 176 electoral votes and 7,192,289 in the popular vote. (52% to 46%) We haven't seen a huge difference like that since the early Bush elections and Clinton's first election in the early 90's. Couple that with all of the Republican congressmen/women, who won't be returning and I think it shows how much the American public was invested in new, different, better leadership. That being said, no matter how big or small the win, he was elected to lead and unite the United States, not just those who voted for him.
We are a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Obama, and all public servants, would do well to remember as much. Bush, in my opinion, forgot this fundamental principle and it led to his political downfall, taking the entire Republican party with him.
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