Remember, remember the 5th of November

Now we have a reason to truly remember and reflect on this 5th of November, 2008.

Today is the first full day without any campaigning (finally!). The votes have been tallied and the American people have spoken. Barack Obama is our president-elect.

This day is not marked, so much, by his victory as it is by two major developments. We will no longer have the daily tit-for-tat campaign updates that divided our country in unprecedented ways over the past several months ("real" America? seriously?!?). The most important election of my lifetime is finally over. It is time to accept that Mr. Obama is our nation's next president and not merely the "North's president" or the "Coastal president". Republicans will have to swallow their pride and accept that they will have as little say in national government as the Democrats did during the majority of Dubya's 8 year reign ... ahem, presidency. Likewise, Democrats need to realize that, although proud of the achievement of the Obama campaign and his supporters nationwide, they will need to reach out to Republicans in the same way they reached out to the "undecided" voters. This needs to happen if we are to solve the problems that plague our nation.

The next development is the need to focus on the future. Not simply the future of Obama's political career but our future and that of our country. There are many problems that will be left in the White House (like the mess left by vengeful tenants that trash their co-ops after receiving an eviction notice) that need to be cleaned up before we can reasonably expect true change to happen. Heck, the clean-up will be a major change in and of itself. But there will be much work still left to be done.

Domestically, we have a damaged economy, families are losing their homes, tens of (if not hundreds of) thousands are currently without adequate healthcare, not to mention the HIV/AIDS epidemic still causing havok nationwide, and so on and so on. Internationally, we have a reputation that needs to be rebuilt, friendships that need to be mended, wars that need to end, and legitimate efforts to control terrorism need to be put into place (and not with actions based on faulty intel).

There is a lot of work to be done by Obama and the citizens of the U.S. But, today... today I rejoice. I celebrate the fact that a change is a-comin'. And for the rest of my life I will forever remember, remember the 5th of November, 2008.