As President-elect Barack Hussein Obama began speaking to a crowd of 125,000 people at Chicago's Grant Park, the clock struck 12:01 a.m. in the White House, soon to be his new home office.
And the world rejoiced for the 44th President of the United States of America.
We begin with Canada.
“Hell yeah!” exclaimed seven star, a University of Manitoba psychology student in western Canada, continuing about the Obama win [1]:
In what amounts to an historic election, Obama seemingly blew the old fart McCain away. I almost feel sorry for John, tear…./tear. Only thing is, Obama is inheriting a nice deficit, and 2 long wars. Will he be able to give the people what he promised, I mean, the money has gotta come from somewhere, but where that is will be something we will find out soon.
Farther west, California resident Jennifer Ayala, blogging at College in Canada, eh, marking her status as a first-year student at the University of British Columbia, wrote the next four years will be interesting [2]:
I was totally praying for a McCain-shaped victory, but I’m not one to dwell on disappointments. Okay so future-President-Obama supports things that I am 100% against, but that just means that in order to win those battles, I (and anyone else who feels the same way I do) need to be more creative.
…allow me to address any fellow Americans that may be reading: regardless of whether you supported Obama or McCain, there’s no better time than the present to be the change you wish to see in the world. The United States is OUR country, not one man’s country, and let’s never forget that. GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Several hundred miles east, Patti, a middle-aged woman from eastern Ontario, laments about traditionally not following American elections. In this case, she argues history was made [3]:
The American people have elected a black person to their highest office. I never thought I’d live to see it. I just learned that for the first time in American history, 17 woman have been elected to their Senate. Here I thought 30 women in our House of Commons was just a good start. I guess progress has different measures.
Elsewhere in Canada, the folks behind leftcoast.ca praised Obama [4] as:
…the most amazing and most statesman-like individual that has graced the world stage in a very long time. Congratulations to the USA for electing an amazing individual as their 44th President. Beautiful.
And the woman behind Canadian blog My Mental Milkcrate is happy for Lucky Number 44 [5] and wants to know where you were when you heard the news:
Where were you? I was arriving home from my writing class to find my husband at the kitchen table, watching McCain’s concession speech on MSNBC Live. I was shocked that the results were declared so early. I interrupted a writing session to watch Obama’s first speech as president-elect. Because it will be history. Except I can’t help thinking that they’ve called it with too few votes actually counted. So tonight I will let out this breath I’ve been holding for months, and tomorrow I will breathe normally.
Also worth mentioning is Jason Kadlecik, a Canadian blogger from the province of Alberta, who is happy for his southern neighbors [6], though questions Obama's socialist leanings:
I predict that four years from now people will look back on the Obama presidency and say “Wow. We voted for change. Now…what exactly did he change?†The money for “spreading the wealth around†has to come from somewhere.
I wonder if Americans will realize that it’s THEM that the money is going to come from.
Regardless, he’s an educated, charismatic man and I wish him luck in the next four years. As any previous president can tell him, he’s going to need it!
Emotions are similar across the pond, albeit few are awake at this late hour.
With a blog title of “Byebye Bush [7],” a blogger behind Dutchfiction yelped:
YIHAAA!!
I’m happy I didn’t sleep and watched CNN live. Obama made it, and it feels so good. All alone in my livingroom (the rest of the house is still asleep) I witnessed the start of a new beginning.
Belgian blogger Marco Rossi offers simple words that change can happen [8]:
Thank you Obama.
You did it. You showed the world that change can happen.
In Manchester, United Kingdom, blogger John McGough believes Obama can not only provide change but America proved it can overcome [9] its differences and prejudices, signs that the world is ready to accept Obama with open arms:
What you should see happening in the coming hours, weeks and days is leaders the world over going out of their way to congratulate the President-Elect, most will try to network with him and develop and ongoing relationship which has often soured under the Bush administration.
As a result of Obama's election, overnight worldwide opinion of America will change. Suddenly countries which were frosty and cold towards America will soften their stance and offer an open hand toward the new president, leaders will view America as a changed country, a country that has finally began to embrace global ideals of the world, a country that has finally began to to shine as the true beacon of the land of the free, yeah one man can really make that much of a difference.
Finally, we turn to British blogger Nadeem Walayat and editor of The Market Oracle, who theorizes the first 100 days [10] of an Obama Administration:
1. Clearly President Obama's focus will be on reinvigorating the U.S. Economy by a series of stimulus packages running to several hundreds of billions aimed at Main Street, that will aim to spread the wealth so as to bolster consumer spending, which will actually have an positive impact on the economy and this boost therefore stock markets, instead of the Bush administrations version of spreading of wealth to Wall street banks which have no intention of using these funds to provide loans to Main Street but rather utilising the billions in merger and acquisitions activities.
2. Withdrawal from Iraq, and bring to a close America's Afghanistan moment, the invasion of Iraq was built on blatant lies of a. Iraq being connected to Sept 11th, and b. that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. These lies were perpetuated by an incompetent Bush administration so as to grab Iraq's oil reserves. The quick 3 month war has turned into a 6 year quagmire costing more than 4,000 american lives and more than 100,000 iraqi lives, with the bill of $3 trillion strangling the U.S. economy, a significant amount of which has disappeared in Bush and Cheney cronie corporations.
3. Greater world wide co-operation following the failed Bush policy of “your either with us or against us,” both with regards the economy and military threats.
As the world rejoices, Voices without Votes [11] react and are brought to Reuters’ web server from near and far.
What does the world think of its peers? Please add a comment below or link to us from your blogs and spread the love for a new American President, a welcoming world, and yourselves.