"The American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly. "
The record turnouts to the polls were something I had the pleasure of seeing in person. To every person who touched their hand to the polls, whether they voted for John McCain, Barack Obama, Bob Barr, Ralph Nader (again, guys?), or another write-in, thank you.

I voted for Barack Obama not because he is a Democrat (I’m a Socialist), not because of the way his campaign was run (though I enjoyed volunteering), and not because he’s dreamy (which he is), but because I see in him the opportunity to change things.

My father, the highly conservative Catholic who will not cast a vote for any candidate on a pro-choice ticket, voted for John McCain but expressed his relief to me that younger people finally seem to care enough to determine the direction of the country. Two of my customers at Starbucks aggressively attacked my support of Obama but seemed a little taken aback and thoughtful, and even invited me to work at their company, when I replied that what I was looking for was a real change, not a Democratic Legislature and Presidency. People are opening their eyes.

His victory wasn’t a victory for Democrats, but for all Americans who have lived through turbulent times and waited and hoped for something better. Every single person who cared enough to turn up to vote can look forward to something new, even if it wasn’t in the form they had planned for. Everyone who was too young to vote can look forward to better jobs and opportunities. What I’m trying to say is we all won today – and we all participated in the struggle to get here. Now that the campaigns are done we can all fuck partisanship and stop adhering to silly, immature refrains about who’s a terrorist or what have you and finally make some progress.

The victory belongs you as much as it belongs to Obama.