What do us Uniteers have to say about it?
Personally I was very pleasantly surprised when the abortion ban failed to pass again this year in my state, with a 10% margin, after it was shot down last election because it had no exceptions.
Underwhelmed by the supposed mandate the Democrats have been handed actually, and thus quite nervous.
Our government is designed to function with checks and balances. Yes, these were run over rough shod during the Bush presidency, and so it is great to see the end to that disastrous administration. But now not only do we have the precedent of illegally expanded presidential powers, we have a legislative branch and executive branch held by the same party.
My guess is that the economy will worsen (with no fault due to Obama of course) and the political pendulum will shift again in two years. My hope is that the two party lock on politics is soon shattered, and we see some third parties winning seats in the legislature two years from now.
A pipe dream, but if things get worse maybe people will wake up.
lets hope it does not get worse, even if just for the financial situation in the rest of the world thanks to the US incapabilities with handling their damned banks correctly instead of actively killing them.
At least, it can’t get much worse for obama, so he has a high chance that he makes the situation better 
And unlike Bush, he has his own brain, doesn’t need to borrow other peoples for common tasks.
While the failing of the US financial institutions are undoubtedly related to our poor financial policies, no banks in Europe were forced to purchase derivatives. The global malaise is due to human stupidity, not just American stupidity.
well, problem is that the european banks were not able to know that the us governments forced them to pay back all the loans even thought the situation was catastrophal on the immobilia market.
that sadly has not really shown up till the first hypo bank got into serious financial troubles and at that point it was already too late to sell out most of the stuff.
the more intelligent banks still did it, taking the massive loses at that point, but they only had a billion or less invested. but others with multi billion dollar investments were not able to do that just like that, not without making their investments totally worthless.
but doesn’t change the fact that a bye bye bush politics was seriously overdue.
Don’t know how it was possible that he was elected and that twice especially as already his father has already caused more damaged than he solved.
thumbs up
I really was hoping for that. Now let’s further hope that this will also result into some serious and overdue changes.
Let’s just say that I’m happy with the results in my state today (Ohio). I was getting sick of my vote being made worthless, due to the electoral college.
clearly the better choice…
McCain would have been great. He would have died in a matter of months after the election - handing the chair to Palin. Just imagine it: Comedy Central would have to close up shop because they wouldn’t be able to compete with BBC and CNN following the american administration around the world.
Well, that’s what you have enjoyed already with the Bushes but you still have the chance that number 44 get’s shot.
I’m awesomely glad that Obama won. Next time I’ll be able to vote as well.
I couldn’t be happier with the outcome of our elections last night. This was, in my opinion, the most important election in my lifetime, and the last time I felt this strongly in favor of one candidate was when Bobby Kennedy was running.
Although I agree with Aaron’s assessment of what caused our planet’s current economic disaster, I think (although perhaps a better word is “hope”) that this election will serve as a spark of confidence that will keep the worst of possibilities from ever becoming a reality.
It’s about time we Americans had an intelligent, articulate, and open minded individual as our leader, and I’m very hopeful and optimistic about our future.
Lucky you ! In France we have 4 years more with Bush’s excellent friend Sarkozy 
i’m so relieved he won, and glad its over.
: )
And I’m glad it didn’t take an extra month to have an answer. Consider this: I turn 18 at the end of October 2000, have my first chance to vote a few days later, and the Bush/Gore fiasco is what I had to deal with.
And then Bush won, too. :x
(…well, sort of. Gore won the popular vote, but because that did not matter, and I voted in a “red state”, my vote was made worthless.)
I’ve been walking on air all day today! I was also heartened to hear about some ballot measures on a certain subject that passed in Massachusetts and Michigan. The only bummer of the night for me was prop 8 in California going through.
I didn’t hear about that. On the positive side, maybe this could be the start of the government not recognizing marriage of any kind. Anything else is a violation of the church/state crossover, and although that’s what we’ve got, it’s ridiculous.
I also thought it sucked that Obama had to end his speech with “God bless this; God Bless that”. Otherwise, I liked it. He should have stuck with puppies.
Except that “separation of powers” and “checks and balances” have nothing to do with a multi-party system. They refer to the different branches of government and the ability of one branch to oversee another. And as you mentioned, Cheney is responsible for greatly broadening the executive’s power. This is dangerous, but not for partisan reasons.
The suddenly recent worries over Democratic control are a stupid Republican talking point. I don’t remember any of these same people sounding the alarm during Republican dominance over the same branches from 2001-2006.
Either way, one party dominance never lasts long (usually just a few years). It’s very easy to blame one party for whatever issues arise. The longest was under FDR 1933 to 1945.
Yes! I hope this viewpoint takes off. The government shouldn’t recognize gay marriage and straight marriage. It needs to back off completely.
The government should only recognize civil unions. Leave marriage the to the churches, and let individual churches recognize whatever the hell they want with whatever silly restrictions they want.
My sincere congratulations for all the american people, and for a lot of other people all over the world too. I must admit I had lost faith, but now I can see a light at the end…
Good job, guys