Post-election....now what?

       After a complete day and a half after the election, the election coverage is still going crazy. But it has officially been called finally in Florida and the final numbers are...332 to 206! In the end, it wasn't close and I think that was a complete surprise by many, especially Republicans...but not me and not to the Obama campaign. As been reported by CNN and MSNBC, the campaign starting on Monday night, started to understand that what was going to happen the next day. We knew early that we were going to beat Mitt Romney and his Republican friends. Though the Republicans continue to hold the House of Representatives, Democrats did gain a great advantage in the Senate 53 Democrats +2 Independents versus the Republicans who picked up only 2 seats and had to deal with only now have 45 in their favor. Though the Senate, seat wise, was a big win, that is not only the real reason it was so great. Now for the first time in history there will be 20 women senators and that is a big deal! For the first time, women are really stepping it up and showing the men that they to can stand their own ground and do well. The biggest races of the night continue to be the ones in Massachusetts where Elizabeth Warren stood her ground to incumbent Scott Brown and was able to defeat him by a large margin. She was able to stand up to his hypocrisy and his anti-women views as well as his strong Republican views on health care and the environment. She became the first women elected to the senate from Massachusetts as well. Another key race was another woman from Wisconsin. Tammy Baldwin is another great woman who has now been elected as the first female senator from Wisconsin, but not only that but the first openly gay senator as well. This progress toward a more accepting nation is critical and was shown in a HUGE way in the election. Not only did Baldwin win, but also 3 state have now publicly confirmed that their state will allow for same-sex couples to be married. This is huge because not only did the three states affirm their marriage laws but it was done by the general public not in Washington, the everyday person was able to go cast their vote to make this legal and that is showing the growing progressive nature in our world. Lastly, I must mention that OBAMA WON!  Obama won four more years in the white house and this is going to be great. Not only did he win, but he won large, across the board both in the electoral college where he completely destroyed Romney and in the popular vote where he won by 3 million votes and counting as Washington and Florida are still counting exact votes. This is a great win and it shows that people still do believe in the hope and change that Obama has started and will continue to fight for in his second term.
       But now... what happens?? Many politicians and news anchors have said that nothing will change, Congressional leadership will not change and therefore nothing will continue to get done. No matter what nothing is going to go anywhere. However, what does that mean? Does it mean that we're just going to do nothing for the next four years? Probably not!We can't just wait around actually, there are many things that need to be dealt with now. The "fiscal cliff" is coming and it is approaching quickly and we need to rethink our budget, we need to find a system to replace the end the Bush Tax Cuts, we need to deal with global warming and hopefully after having Sandy more people will accept it and help find a solution, and finally we need to deal with our wars and decide SMARTLY which ones to pursue, which ones we wont and then with the money not spent on war, we need to do some nation building including education, medicare, and social security. But on the optimist side, there are somethings that are going to get done no matter Congress, biggest one being that Roe vs Wade will be completely upheld and so will Obamacare. It will be an exciting next four years and I can't wait to see what Obama can get done in this next term!
       I will leave you with a few things one, Obama's closing argument for his re-election, in his speech he said two things, the first about elections "That's why we do this. That's what politics can be. That's why elections matter. It's not small, it's big. It's important. Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy", and secondly he ended with, "I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn't matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try". And lastly, a video which I have had on repeat not only for the past 36 hours but for the last three weeks of the campaign. I think it really gives the full message of this campaign and of the Obama presidency as well. Well, until next time, happy democracy and go Obama!