A New Era in American Politics: President Obama

I wanted to wait some time after the election before writing my final post. The culmination of this historic election was emotionally charged for everyone involved, myself included. I believe it is best to assess an event bearing the magnitude of last November 4th after everything sinks in.

Up until election day we were religiously following polls, listening to the predictions of pundits and making predictions of our own. Everyone seemed to think they knew what would happen; and in a way many were right. Senator Obama won the electoral college quite handily: 365 to 173. His victory, along with all the Democratic Senate and Congressional race victories, exemplifies the clear advantage the Democratic Party had in the 2008 election season.

On the other hand, what should spark some interest is Obama's failure to win closer to the 15 point advantage that the Democratic Party enjoyed over the Republican Party. He won the popular vote by closer to 7 points, which leaves room for the issues of inexperience and race as factors in Obama's less than completely resounding victory.

But not to sell his clear victory short, Obama proved that the Electoral Map is evolving and Democrats now have more than one way to win (through Ohio and Florida). Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004 were forced into relying on Florida and Ohio to carry them to victory along with the northeast and the west coasts. Neither previous Democratic nominee had plans for winning Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico. Obama in 2008 was not only able to make a move in the mountain west, but to steal away the solidly red states of Virginia and North Carolina from the GOP.

If I were to make a big assumption and say that Obama has the quietly effective Presidency he needs to have and wins reelection with roughly the same states backing him, we could see a considerable advantage for the Democratic Party with respect to the electoral college in future elections. Many red states are now purple; we will see if they stay that way.

It will also be interesting to see if the Democrats use their new President and near filibuster-proof power in Congress to take commanding control of the Political arena, or if they squander the power they now enjoy much like the current Bush administration did with 9/11 and ensuing events.

Stay tuned to Obama and his new administration. Remain a participant in American politics after the election by emailing and calling your Congressional Representatives, Senators and President. Don't think that your civic duty is over now that the election has ended; it has only just begun.