>>>>>Now comes the hard part....
>>>>
>>>>I'm looking forward to the upside. The word 'historic' is being thrown around a lot, but I think it is fitting.
>>>>
>>>>The one part of the Obama phenomenon that has always disturbed me (though the cause is in fact 'historic' ) he is always referred to as 'Black' rather than the more accurate 'bi-racial' and this itself is the legacy of Jim Crow - the 'one-drop' rule. His personal story is even more compelling if seen in it's true context and makes his role as a 'bridge' and a 'uniter' more believable. I guess because of my own life experiences and the makeup of my own family I am more focused on issues of culture and don't really see race as a meaningful distinction. And I see younger Americans looking at the world more that way - where skin color is closer to eye color on the scale of things that are important and people gravitating to each other based on cultural commonality. Obama represents that beautifully and I look forward to that example being a bridge to the future. Also, interestingly, this flies in the face of the kind of identity politics that have become the mainstay of the Democratic base and I hope it leads to his guiding his party in a better direction.
>>>>
>>>>Change is coming. And I think some surprises along with it.
>>>>
>>>>I hope everyone who voted against Obama will now give him the respect, cooperation and, when necessary, loyal opposition the President deserves. I think many on the Left behaved mindlessly and shamefully toward Bush (as others sometimes did toward the more eager-to-please Clinton) and it would be just as ugly if the Right does it to President Obama. There really are things more important than politics and polarization.
>>>>
>>>>Country first.
>>>
>>>Charles,
>>>
>>>I agree that the fact that President elect Obama is bi-racial is remarkable. I also hope that all of the country can get behind him now and have hem truly be OUR president. We need to disenters to be vocal and active in process that is about to begin. Our country need change but not blind change, we need to have all of the voices heard and I am very hopefull that our new president will be able to bring the parties together and perhaps we can have some historic changes occur over the next few years. I am usually not very talkative about political issues but in this situation I truly hope we have begun a process of change that will be remarkable. As you stated above, Country first!
>>
>>I agree.
>
>Could you or anyone else in this agreement specify now what kind of "historic changes" are supposed to come, or at least what kind of historic changes should come? Naturally enough, it would be interesting to see wider selection of answers just to compare that this "agreement" is really an agreement, so I deliberately send this reply to few posters, not just to you.

The change I see is in the opinion many on the left have of Obama as their standard bearer. I think he's a pragmatist and political opportunist and has used his ethnic uniqueness to achieve power in his party beyond his resume. But I don't think anyone knows what he's going to do with it. There are also certain realities of the job - he'll get his big national security briefing today - and that is going to determine a lot of his choices.

Of course it is historic that someone has been elected who is only 50% Caucasian but that will quickly fade in uniqueness with Kennedy's Catholicism ( which was no more determinative of JFKs world-view than Obama's father's origin is of his)

There will definitely be a swing to the left, but more because of the Congress than the President. The reality of the office is that his most vicious attacks will come from his left.

It will also be interesting to see the messages Obama sends to various 'oppressed' groups and their reactions to them. That he sat so quietly listening to Wright says more about his ambition and his self-control than his sympathies. Now it is going to get interesting to see how this son of an African absentee father and a loving white mother and grandmother expresses his opinions on identity politics.