Obama Elected President

Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States.

California put Obama over the 270 votes he needed in the Electoral College.

He will become the 44th President on January 20, 2009 and the first African-American to hold that office.

I didn't vote for Obama. Of course, I recognize that this was unimaginable in 1968 and still unlikely in 1988. To call this significant is an understatement.

Still, I will judge Obama not by the color of his skin but its thickness.

Obama wrested Ohio from the GOP and also regained Iowa and New Mexico which Bush carried in 2004.

Obama became the first Democrat to win the Commonwealth of Virginia since LBJ in 1964.

On top of that the Democrats have gained seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. They might even reach the 60 seats they need for a filibuster proof Upper Chamber.

I would be remiss if I didn't write a few words about John McCain.

He might not have won but he put up a hell of a fight.

Despite the outcome this was no landslide.

McCain has so far carried 17 states and garnered nearly half of the popular vote. If Obama was running against any other Republican he would have turned them into Barry Goldwater.

McCain kept Obama on his toes until the very end. McCain came back from the dead again and again. Obama only began to turn the corner with the emergence of the financial crisis on Wall Street in mid-September. Even then Obama never consistently went beyond the margin of error in the polls.

But there's no margin of error tonight. Obama won.

Now let's see what he does.

Can he back his words with deeds?