At Peace

I'm back already. I went to bed last night with a heavy heart. Not so much about Obama being President, but more about what his election might say about the country. There are plenty of people out there who did their homework and voted for him out of convictions. I can respect that. But I also think there were plenty who had no clue and just voted based on the emotional appeal of "hope and change" or based solely on the color of his skin. And I wondered what that said about the values of the people of this country and its future direction.

But then I started visiting my usual bloggers and my usual talk radio shows and was reminded of how I felt two years ago when I had first heard of the historic election of a young black man from Illinois to the Senate. I had the hope that America was ready to get beyond issues of race and start to act in a color-blind fashion. This IS a historic election.

I am also starting to see the benefit of an Obama win. Now the other side of the political spectrum can taste victory. Perhaps the country can be relieved of some of the bitter vitriol from the far left and we can get beyond the resentment of the "stolen elections" of 2000 and 2004. Perhaps we can get to the business of moving America forward.

One of my favorite talk radio hosts, Dennis Miller, (of Saturday Night Live fame) expressed my thoughts in such a classy way today. He basically said that although Obama wasn't his guy, he hoped that Obama would turn out to be a great President after all because he loves this country. And he'd support him. That's exactly what I think is the right choice. So I am at peace.

And I was so happy to see that many of my favorite bloggers felt the same way:

Bill Whittle

It is with the utmost sincerity and genuine goodwill that I wish to congratulate Barack Obama and the millions who supported him on your historic win this evening.

My hope is that this will lift your spirits from the traumatic eight years they have endured, and restore to you the conviction that this is, and was, and always will be your country as well as ours....

When he is inaugurated, President Obama will be my president. He cannot be otherwise. I will disagree with him at just about every turn, likely, and that is my right and duty as an American. However, in an emergency he will have my unqualified support, and I will always wish him wisdom and hope that he may do what is best for this great country of ours. I do not wish – I do not ever wish – to see my country suffer so that I may gain political leverage. If at this same time four years from now, President Obama has acted in such a way to make us more prosperous, more safe and more free, it will be my greatest pleasure to admit I was wrong about the man. I look forward to that day. I hope to see it come to pass.

Regardless of all of that, we have together achieved something noble and magnificent tonight. We have, after a long and hazardous journey, taken the final step in erasing the one real stain on our nations history. That war is not over, but it is won. And we may all take a great deal of pride in that....

So again, to Senator Obama, Senator Biden, and all their families and supporters -- please accept my deepest congratulations on a spectacular victory.

Michelle Malkin

We pay respect to the office of the presidency. We count our blessings and recommit ourselves to our constitutional republic.

Baldilocks, whose father is from the same tribe as Senator Obama's father

Congratulations to President-elect Obama and to the Democrats.

As it became apparent that Barack Obama was going to be elected president, I called up my step-dad to see what was on his mind. We had a long conversation about the way history seemed to be heading and during the conversation, I looked up at the TV and noticed that the Electoral College Vote count was 287 for Obama. Done deal.

When I mentioned this to Dad, a man who is a Bible-believing Methodist pastor and staunch conservative Republican who voted for John McCain as did I, he said this: "Don't you ever go to bed at night without praying for that man."

I will not. He--and we--will need it.

The Anchoress

Good Luck, President-Elect Obama....Our President at this moment is still George W. Bush, and he deserves a good deal more respect than he’s been given. When you’re sworn in, you’ll have my respect, too. It won’t be uncritical - not that you’ll care what this little blogger thinks, for as long as bloggers continue to run free - but I will manage to be respectful and fair, which is more than most lefty bloggers managed for President Bush, so you’re already ahead of the game.

And finally, Betsy Newmark's comments on McCain's concession speech.

That was a very graceful and well-done concession speech. John McCain was much more appealing in defeat than he was as a campaigner. It's funny how often that happens. But he's absolutely right that whatever differences we might have with Senator Obama, we are at a difficult moment in our nation's history and if there is a hope of being a more united country, that would be good for all. Our conflicts are based on deep ideological differences that we won't ignore, but we can disagree without being ugly. Maybe Republicans can show the Democrats how to be a loyal opposition party without the total demonization that so many liberals have shown to prominent Republicans.

NOW I can take a break from political blogging. See you in a while.

Clarice