Looking Back and Looking Forward! One Day Into a New Era!

Firstly, this is how I'm feeling:




Now, what exactly happened last night? I'll be honest, I can't really remember. Here's a rundown of some occurrences last night, both epic and less epic.




--> President-Elect Barack Obama won a decisive, dominant victory last night over Senator John McCain, expanding the electoral map in a way that no Democrat has done since Lyndon Johnson, and winning a majority of votes for the first time since Jimmy Carter.

Of course, amidst all the excitement and wonder of last night (see my Facebook video), Taeggan Goddard managed to present the most compelling thought of the evening: Our first 16 presidents could have legally owned our 44th as a slave.

How far have we come? It's a topic that President-Elect Obama touched on heavily in his fantastic speech last night, telling American history through the eyes of a 106-year-old woman in Georgia, and framing his victory as part of a larger, American belief that anything is possible - YES WE CAN.

Thomas Friedman reminds us that it was Virginia, the state that lended enough weight to the Southern cause to make secession a reality, and was the front line of the Civil War, was the state to put an African-American President over the top.

The Boston Globe heralds a new age of politics in America: grassroots, decentralized, and driven from below.



The Chicago Tribune reminds us that we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth in February, and asks us, today of all days, to look at how far we have come in so short a time: "When [Obama] was born in 1961, African-Americans risked death merely to register to vote in some Southern states."

Five poets frame the campaign beautifully, courtesy of that news source that shall remain the greatest in the land, the New York Times.

And without question, the quintessential story thus far about the outcome of this election comes from two of the finest political bloggers on the map - Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin.



--> Four years after the lead writer of The West Wing called a political consultant named David Axelrod and said, "Tell me about this guy Barack Obama." Two and a half years since the character they based on Obama rose from political abscurity (thanks in part to an inspiring convention speech) and claimed the White House, defeating an older, experienced, maverick Republican senator who ultimately sold out his independence to appease the conservative base. Isn't it fitting that this election would mirror the pretend one so closely?


Both the character and the candidate refused to be defined by their race. Colin Powell noted today that Obama won because "he did not put himself forward as an African-American president." Jimmy Smits' character asserts, "I don't want to be the brown candidate, I want to be the American candidate."

It also turns out that the building that Matthew Santos stands in front of to announce his candidacy, as he tells Americans that "hope is real," was used as one of the backdrops for McCain's convention speech this year. Yeah, you should watch the speech and think about how closely it mirrors Obama's.

Well, the wheel has kept turning, as today we received word that Barack Obama has offered Congressman Rahm Emanuel the powerful position of Chief of Staff. The job is long described on The West Wing as the second most powerful job in the country, and it is fitting that the Matthew Santos candidate would pick the man who Josh Lyman, his chief of staff, was reportedly based on to serve in that post. Emanuel is known as someone who pulls no punches and gets things done. He also reportedly rattled off a list of "traitors" to the Clinton campaign after their reelection victory and screamed "Dead!" after each one as he jammed a large knife into the table. He was portrayed as "The Enforcer" by Rolling Stone, and he is without question the perfect man for the job.



--> Meanwhile, not that it matters, but Sarah Palin's shopping spree turns out to have been a lot bigger than previously reported. Oops.


--> We're still locked in several tight Senate races, as of this posting. Oregon, Minnesota, Alaska, and Georgia are still razor-thin (Georgia being close only in that getting less than 51% requires a runoff). Let's see how those play out.


--> Also, it looks like the California ban of gay marriage will pass.


I'll give you more of a rundown tomorrow or Friday, but right now this is all I can come up with. Just go celebrate!