Thoughts on day 1 of a new course

“It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.” – President-Elect Barack Obama, November 4, 2008



Yesterday was amazing. Today reality rises with the dawn, and the Obama Administration has to hit the ground running.

There will be plenty of occasions to celebrate before he is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. However in the near term he needs to put together a strong transition team and begin to formulate an action plan to tackle the many issues that will face him on day 1.

Issues like the war in Iraq that has dragged on for too many years. An economy that is being battered by a downward spiraling housing market, corruption on Wall Street, clearly manipulated oil prices…the list goes on and on.

This campaign has been long, hard fought on both sides, and at times bitter, if not in actuality, then in tone.

With that being said, I have to give a tip of the hat to Senator McCain. The same man who couldn’t even look at Barack Obama during the first debate gave a classy concession speech. He acknowledged their differences and also pledged his support to the President-Elect for the good of the country. Nicely done Senator.

And in the phone call between the two candidates Obama asked for Senator McCain’s assistance “I need your help, you’re a leader on so many important issues.”

If these two men can put aside their differences after such a hard fought battle, then their fervent supporters should be able to do the same.

Unfortunately many of the hard core base of the Republican faithful are continuing with the ‘fear and smear’ campaign that has been going on for most of this year. It’s time for this to stop and for all Americans to come together and work to fix the problems facing this nation.

History was made last night, let us take this momentum and use it to move forward as a nation and restore our economy, our self-pride and our position as a world leader.

May God guide the President-Elect and may he bless the United States of America.