Good signs for Obama

I voted for Barack Obama.

But even if you are a Republican or didn’t support Obama, there are still a number of reasons to be excited and optimistic for the future.

First of all, the youth vote in this election was extremely important, and I think as college students this was exciting.

It was uplifting and uniting to have so much fervor on college campuses and among friends and peers. I felt something like patriotism after Obama’s election occurred, and it is sad to say, but I have never experienced this feeling as strongly as I did on this night.

It was wonderful to see so many young people advocating for their candidates, passionate for the issues, educating themselves and voting. Hopefully this excitement that our age group has carries on for the rest of the year.

Secondly, it is truly amazing that Obama is the first black man to be president in America. According to an article in USA Today, white supremacist groups are actually on the rise , but the fact that over half of Americans wanted a black man over a white one says a lot about where we are as a country.

We have a long way to go, but regardless, all Americans can rejoice in this great step for not only the black community, but for the country as a whole.

Another important thing to note is that Obama was seen as the anti-war candidate. Both candidates had withdrawal plans, but they were referred to differently – Obama’s as “pulling out the troops” and John McCain’s as more “staying the course.”

Whether or not you agree that either of these candidates’ plans are legitimate solutions, it’s nice to know that most people voted for what they thought was the anti-war candidate.

I think one thing most everyone can agree on is that this election was really a rejection of Bush’s presidency. A lot of the decisions of the Bush administration caused a deep sense of cynicism and doubt about our country. I think in this election, the country was largely united in a rejection of these amoral or disagreeable policies the Bush administration employed and exploited.

I think that one final thing I took away from this election that I liked to see was that both candidates had to distance themselves from the Democratic and Republican parties.

I personally think the two-party system that we have now is somewhat absurd, and I also think that the Democratic Party has been seen recently as “the lesser of two evils.” Really, we shouldn’t have to choose between evil at all in our government.

Regardless of who you voted for, I think we can all rejoice in some of the great effects that Obama’s election has had already, and in spite of sounding intensely cliche, I really think there is reason to believe that change can come to America.