pogoism

He did it. Barack Obama has been elected the next President of the United States.

And I couldn’t be happier. I’ve followed this election since it began about 2 years ago, through the Primaries and then to the real campaigning. I was even lucky enough to arrive in the US just as it was hotting up, and got to see Obama twice when he came to Reno. 

Back home I was fairly politically minded, but to be honest, politics at home in dull. In England, we’re used to boring old men in suits, and they all seem as bad as each other, with no massive differences in their policies - basically wanting to bring everything down to the lowest common denominator. And they’re certainly not inspirational or charismatic.

In Northern Ireland it’s even worse. Most people are even more disengaged from the political process because of what politics has caused. Politics means sectarianism, violence, anger and graffiti, and as a result, most people steer clear.

However, American politics is completely different. With vast amounts of money being poured into this election, estimated at around $2.5 billion, this campaign was enthralling. I can only comment from my experience of Obama rallies, but having been to a few, he truly is inspiring -from the way his speeches are written so that the crowd is roused up, let down for a bit, then roused up again to the careful selection of music, always ending in Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours”.

It’s fantastic to see America get over the race issue (even if it couldn’t get over the gay issue), and hopefully during the next 4 years, we’ll begin to see a change.

After the jump, in case you missed it, is Obama’s victory speech, delivered in front of 124,000 people in Grant Park, Chicago.

Photo via Flickr user JBVFromFK.