Barack Obama is US President

[jazzactivist]

Goodness, it seems incredible that a black person has been elected US president in my life time. I think good for people in America who could look beyond race and elect the candidate that they think is the right person for the job. Obama seems to have a more humanitarian set of values underpinning his ideas and plans, so I hope that this will mean big changes in the way that America interacts with the world, and that he sets a good example to other leaders. Congratulations to the USA! What do you all think of this political development?

[Crocus]

Hi Jazz, yes it is amazing isn't. According to commentators as well as comments I've read on Sky News yesterday, it seems to be a very sentimental vote. A person who put in a comment on Sky News stated that he want's Obama to be President "because he suffered and his grandma died". I just hope that this wasn't the general feel. No doubt Obama is an intelligent man and has youth to his advantage. Let's just hope that he can live up to his promises he made to the nations of America. x

[Shelli]

Barack Obama is an American - why does it matter what colour his skin is ? - is he culturally any different than his peers? - he was brought up in America went to an american school, has an American mother

It frankly staggers me that the the idea of him being a "black president" carries such weight and that the media are using this to perpetuate the false idea that this now means America as a nation is so terribly progressive - 1st on the moon, 1st Black President - the country still has the same amount of intolerance as it had yesterday !!

I dont think he will turn out to be any different than his predecessors - but will be up for a lot more criticism along the way.

Shelli X

[Oola]

I stayed up way into the early hours watching this, first watching from about 6pm on BBC News and then onto the BBC later on. I finally gave in when the Ohio results came in and then checked early this morning to confrirm.

I think it is important that he has black heritage, because for some people it seemed utterly impossible just 50 years ago. It's such an amazing cultural change and acceptance. Seeing the tears on Jessi Jackson's face was quite moving, it also confirms for a lot of black people that have felt that their opportunities have been limited that they can reach for the sky and achieve if they work hard enough. I think that's really important.

But from a non-race perspective I felt this was so important in so many ways. He really does seem to have a different approach, a different, more considered tact. I just feel somehow he's safer than the bomb-and-ask-questions-later administration that we've had for the past 8 years. I don't deny that Bush had a difficult first term, given the events of 9/11. I just have so much more confidence in Obama, especially given his thoughts on accessible healthcare and building the economy from the bottom up. In some ways I feel like the stability of the world rests a lot on who is in the White House. I followed the presidential and vice-presidential debates, and he came across as so measured, considered, cool and collected, informed, stable and inspiring. And quite frankly the thought of Palin being so close to the top position was frightening. Drill, baby, drill indeed.

I really hope this is the dawn of a new era, where the US isn't so isolationist, where the communication lines are opened up again. From the news footage it's almost like the world is breathing a sigh of relief today. I'm very, very happy with the results. I don't think Obama will live up completely to the expectations, he's taking on a mess of an economy, wars on two fronts etc etc. BUT I do think he's going to be good for America. They say to watch his first 100 days in office, they'll be crucial.

[Shelli]

You are definitely a Ravenclaw Oola!!

Lovely measured response from one so young - it gets really tough when you get older and become jaded and cynical!! - stay young X

Shelli X

[Clunkshift]

I have this awful mental image of two american guys, both called Bubba, both unemployed and living in run down trailers with their disabled mommas - The one in Wisconsin has taken the bullet riddled Palin photo off the yard fence and put his hunting rifle back under the bed, but his doppelganger in Arkansas is still having target practice on the Obama photo and wondering what it costs to drive the pickup to Washington...

Older, jaded and cynical Clunk x.

[Rustic Pumpkin]

Could I just please point out that, although Barrack Obama does call himself 'black' his mother is 'white'.

I do feel happy for those who feel that this has brought some degree of closure to issues of racial prejudice, and hope that it won't bring its own set of fresh problems.

I wish we could all get passed the racial issues of the planet so that we could all focus more on being humanitarian to our fellow man. After all, none of us have 'black', 'white', or even 'pink' skin, if you look real close we are all actually varying tones of yellow!

But you just couldn't make it up that the grandmother of the 44th President (elect) of the United States of America lives in a tiny village in Africa! At least, that is how it appeared on the lunch time news I saw!

[Ivy]

Advocatus diaboli asks : Did he get voted despite or because of the colour of his skin? I am not sure. Glad McCain /Pailin didn't win but why wasn't Hillary Clinton elected? I don'T think any of them are saints and America needs a change but will they get a change or just another first family. Yes I am off to the naughty corner now.

[Pippa]

Obama certainly is a great orator, in the Kennedy class almost, and educated and shows compassion, frankly makes Bush look like a pygmy. Now America has a chance to unite its people and a wonderful opportunity to help the world become safer through dialogue and humanitarian actions and not with war, bombs and gun happy idiots.

[Oola]

I think Ivy, to answer your question yes and no. The guy has substance, but I can understand why black people would vote for a guy that has black heritage. Imagine it's another planet - you have red skin and green horns and people like you have been oppressed and treated so badly for generations. Then you make a stand, you're oppressed again, your leaders are assassinated, you claw and fight your way up to attain something that should rightfully be yours anyway.

Then someone with pink skin and green horns is elected, someone who's come from a pretty humble background with you. They've worked their way up, fought prejudices just like you because of your red skin, they've made opportunities for themselves and then suddenly, there they are, up there with some big ideas, a change of direction and a feeling of positivity and hope for the first time in a very long time. People with blue skin and yellow horns have joined together with you and your race, you feel like you're coming out of 8 years of dark times. I can understand why it would attract so many black voters. Just in the same way that I suppose Harold Wilson might have attracted northern, working class voters. You see someone like you who could make your live better. It's also great that people can get past the middle name of Hussein - for a US President to have that name should be noted. I have been going on US-based Political forums and you have no idea how much prejudice there still is about that connection, however small. The fact that people can get over that is pretty big. It shows, I think, that the majority of Americans want to become more worldly and move away from the old fears that have been peddled for so long.

Clunk, I also think that perhaps there are those that are going to try and take a few potshots at him. But then, with everything Bush has done and seen, he's been safe for this long. At this point of time I would like Obama to have 2 full terms.

I never got to experience FDR or Kennedy; this feels like I imagine it would have done for people living under those administrations. There's a definite buzz, the celebrations around the world from other countries is almost tangible. It's really exciting. AND he's much more 'green' than other candidates...he has Gore close to hand which is significant.

[Crocus]

My main concern is that Obama's election was based on sentiment. On Sky News there's a report about Obama "reaching his American dream". This dream now has come true, but could this mean his election as US President was perhaps a personal challenge more than anything else, because it was his dream? So many times one want's something very badly, but once you've got it, it's not what you expected.
I'm not at all saying he will not make a success of it all, it's just that I somehow get the feeling that sentiment and also the fact that it was his dream, played a significant role. xx

[souter girl]

The news coverage has been overwhelming both sides of the Atlantic. I just hope America accords the importance to tomorrow's Glenrothes by-election!!!!

[Oola]

Crocus I don't think it's based on sentiment, I think, having gone through the presidential campaigns and debates, that he really DOES want to see this change happen. I don't think it was so much about just realising his dream and then his personal challenge has been met, fulfilled and nothing else to do. It WAS a challenge for him to get there, having had extra obstacles in his way, such as relative inexperience, multi-racial background, republican strongholds etc. THe race thing, the personal ambition is only one part of a massive fight to get to the top where he really can implement change. And it looks as though the majority of the US wants to go with him, otherwise he wouldn't have even made it through the primaries, he wouldn't have beaten Hillary Clinton to become the candidate. I feel like he's the voice of a new generation and in a way wish that we had a leader that was going to take our country in such a new radical direction. Also, I don't believe that people would have voted because his grandmother died either, from what I've seen on political forums this wasn't even an issue.

[Crocus]

Hi Oola, well hopefully the fact that his grandmother died wasn't a reason people voted for him. I just hope that he will be able to live up to his promises, because the voters out there will wait anxiously for this to happen. He has quite a task on his shoulders if one takes into account the economy, Iraq, the Middle East etc. Prayers for him in this very responsible task

The most common thread we can pick up on most of the commentaries, all agree that Obama want's to bring change. Quite a few of the comments touched the fact that in his campaign they found very little detail or information how and what he want's to change, but it seems everybody wants a change . This morning on Sky News there was a report on Obama's speech where he promised the people "that we will get there". But what and where is "there"? xx

[Ivy]

I hope he will live to prove that it wasn't just about power but genuinely about change, because I feel that is what America ( and probably the rest of the world ) needs most. I always have my difficulties if a person is credited in advance and praised like he is. It may not be his fault I guess it is just the way they do elections in the U.S. but he hasn't done much yet to deserve to be idolized like that. And I have to agree with Crocus: He is using a lot of phrases that leave it to the listener to fill them with contents. "Yes we can", "we will get there" et cetera. To make things clear I'd rather see him as the next President than any of the blue league but I fear our expectations have been raised too high. Just because he is President he can't change the world in a couple of months and that is exactly what he said in his post election speech.
"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year
or even one term. But America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there." He is not Saint Obama , simply because he had to be ruthless to get where he is today, so just le's just wait and see if he manages to keep at least one pre -election promise .

[Healing Hands]

I am so happy that Obama has become President, he is young, confident, intellegent, a wonderful speaker and has a lovely stable family. I hope and pray that he and his family stay safe as there is always some nutter of an amercian who does not like coloured people asnd may try and take a pop at him.

I can see wonderful changes happening over there now, and as some of you have said there was a sigh of relief yesterday that he became President.

[Shelli]

just heard this morning on Radio 2 that in the past the Obama family were very wealthy and owned Slaves - just thought I'd mention it - for balance

shelli x

[jazzactivist]

I don't think that sympathy came into the voting at all, crocus. I can't imagine that people would spend hours standing in the polling queues doing something as important as voting just to go in thinking that they will vote for the 'most needy' president. People tend to be quite selfish in these matters, and vote for the party that they think will provide them with the most benefits and opportunities.

As for the Obama family owning slaves in the past, shelli, that isn't so unusual in African countries. There was usually a tribal privilege system and it is now quite well known that captives from other tribes often became slaves to the dominant tribe. Also, tribal leaders were involved in the traffiking of people into slavery in the US, but were often then captured and became slaves themselves. This complex history doesn't wipe out the fact that African Americans mainly originate from slavery and have been discriminated against right up to the present time.

The pride of being able to elect a Black president (both visibly and politically)and the hope that this action will bring about real change encouraged more people to vote than in decades previously. Obama has a lot more hope and expectation riding on him than any other US president, and he won't be perfect, but he does represent an amazing groundswell of determination that people aren't satisfied and want change, and this has most chance of occuring with the election of an African American president with more left wing values. Obama will constantly have detractors, but cynicism about politics just maintains the status quo and never gets anything done.

[Shelli]

Hi Jazz - I know about history of slavery - was just playing devil's advocate - almost everyone in America has grubbiness in their family history if you go back far enough - settlers to the US had to trample all over each other in all sorts of nasty ways to get rights , land, establish communities, become successful.

My first concern about Obama is his promise to Americans that he will rebuild the economy from the bottom up - he has brought the American poor to the polling station and gotten elected on this promise - I just wonder how on earth he is going to follow through on this and make life better for the disenfranchised population given that he is taking over an administration that works completely the opposite way around - i.e rewards the rich and penalises the poor

Theres going to have to be some major social reforms - particularly welfare and health systems and he's got to get past congress

Shelli X

[Healing Hands]

Ansely Harriot, (sorry if spelt wrong) he also had family that kept slaves, so yes it did happen in those days, it was not just the white people who dealt with slaves, but does that really matter today that was history, yesterday history was made by the US having a coloured President.

Obama is going to have a tough job to get through what he has promised it is not going to happen over night and most people realise that, but he has got a lot of crap to deal with that Bush has left him and I am sure Obama will keep his promise to the people of the US. I cannot wait to see Bush gohe did not do the US any favours at all.

[Crocus]

What Shellie has said about the promise of building the ecnomony from the bottom up, where will the financing come from?

The phrase: "Obama America's first Black President" carries a lot of responsibility, a responsibility which Obama will have to live up to. It's almost as if colour will bring a lot of changes immediately, as if everything will just fall into place. If colour was to be an issue, his dad is black and his mum white which doesn't make him either black or white, but the black component has been emphasized a lot, which is why I think a lot of sentiment and euphoria went into the voting. xx

[jazzactivist]

The term "Black" is a political one that carries with it not just the colour of someone's skin, but the view that people should not be oppressed based on their race, or mix of it. One of the most interesting things about politics is the way that politicians' speeches hold a code within them that tells the population more about their values and intentions. When Barack Obama said "I had a dream... to be president of the United States" he is echoing one of the most famous speeches of all time by Martin Luther King, and everyone recognises that this is a code for saying that Obama intends to pick up and take forward the black civil rights politics for which MLK was famous. There would have been many more of these types of references that 'speak' to African Americans, and poor Americans. It tells us more about the man, and the speech content that he is comfortable with, than the Democrat political party to which he belongs.

I hope that Obama will continue with his calm, dignified manner, and in line with his left wing leanings. It may not be so hard to rebuild the economy from the bottom up, since it has just about hit rock bottom anyway. He will be in a good position, given that both Houses have Democrat majorities, to introduce laws that, for example, prevent banks from making huge profits from their customers' money.

[Crocus]

I just hope that he, unlike some black leaders who had won elections, won't start the blame game, and eventually blame it on previous governments. After all, out of own choice, he fought the election and won it.

[jazzactivist]

I know what you mean, crocus. With a change of political party in government there is always a reasonable amount of blame expected for the way that the previous party ran things but, I think, that this is only acceptable for the first couple of years of office. After that those excuses just don't wash! However, we are often left with a distructive cultural legacy for much longer. Look at how the UK is still paying the price for the change to a free market economic culture that was brought in by the Thatcher administration in the 1970s! I hope that Barack Obama manages to make enough of an inroad in his early days as US President to really bring about a few changes, and has the courage to take responsibility for the results.

[Crocus]

That remains to be seen Jazz. So many times they start of with stars in their eyes, wanting to make and break everything, just to find out that it's not as easy and straight forward they perhaps thought and hoped it will be. To win an election, and to be and do what's required, are two totally different things. I think this happens over the full spectrum of life - things are very seldom how one think it will be. The picture in one's mind, and the other side of the fence are many times quite different when one comes face to face with reality. xx

[eleanor2]

i was speaking to my sister in America.from what i can gather they didnt have much choice.they feel the republicans have let them down so badly.they just wanted a democratic in.they want big changes.lets hope they are for the better.

[sunflower]

I was really pleased about Barack Obama........until I heard that he is intending on sending yet more troops into Afghanastan. I felt an idiot because I believed his pre election speeches. Like the Commentor said, he put great emphasis on stating that troops would be pulled out of Iraq.....the small print was sending them elswhere.

[Oola]

He always said that he was going to put more troops in Afghanistan though, and that that policy might not make him popular...