History is Made Tonight

I had my window open and when the networks projected that Barack Obama would be the 44th President of the United States, it was as if the entire neighborhood exploded -- I could hear cheers and screams from blocks away. It was worth voting at six in the morning to hear those excited voices. History was made tonight.

Americans chose hope over fear. The future over the past. And decency over arrogance. The Republicans and their soiled legacy of the past eight years have been repudiated and the Democrats will go on to run the country for at least the next four years. Or, to put it another way, tonight Barack Obama and the Democrats have accomplished everything this blog has been advocating ever since I started it over three years ago.

And yet what I feel tonight is a combination of relief and foreboding. I'm relieved that the Republicans are being kicked out of power. I'm relieved that we're going to have a grown-up in the White House. I'm relieved that we might be able to reverse some of the more sordid aspects of the current administration (and protect some rights that they weren't able to destroy, such as a woman's right to choose).

But on this night, when so many people are celebrating so joyously, all I can see when I look ahead is a grim fight. Even with all that's happened in the economy in the past two months, people still don't really have a clue how bad it's going to get in this country in the next two years. And that's all Barack Obama is going to get. If he has a mandate, it will be for the next two years to turn this economy around and disentangle us from two wars abroad. He's got the votes in Congress and he's got to deliver, because if he doesn't, the Republicans are quite capable of roaring back in 2010 and taking back the Congress.

So feel good tonight, all you progressives out there. You've earned it. We all have. But when you wake up tomorrow morning keep in mind that the real fight hasn't even started yet. Remember: we've got to keep this guy alive for the next eight years. And a lot of people out there in America are going to be oiling up their guns tomorrow.