Congratulations, Consolations, Contemplation

Congratulations to our 44th President to be...Barack Obama and VP Elect Joe Biden. Consolations to Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin.

I'm sitting here trying to come up with something poignant to say about this historic moment. It's tremendous that the color barrier has been overcome in this nation and it is something to be celebrated. However, I do NOT feel that the only reason that someone should choose a candidate should be because of color.

There was some disturbing chit chat around the water cooler this morning as we were discussing the election results. A co-worker's teenager was on the bus yesterday. She voted for Barack Obama because she shares his views on several key issues. On her bus ride, she discovered that some of her classmates were only voting for Obama because of the color of his skin. They didn't care about the issues.

Granted, these were teenagers, not consumed by adult responsibilities, but I couldn't help feeling a little nostalgic, and then somewhat annoyed to think that they only cared about voting for a black candidate.

I think people sell themselves short in the political process if they are only interested in voting for someone because of his or her race and I know that there are adults that did that during this election. We need to take stock of what a candidate stands for and then measure his or her values against our own and only then decide how to cast our vote. Use your brain children! Argh! It's not ONLY a popularity contest (thank you for electoral votes Founding Fathers).

It will be interesting to see in what direction President Elect Obama will take our country: economically, morally and politically. I want to see what he can do, and hear about how he hopes to accomplish it without adding to our national debt.

So I say, "Welcome Mr. Obama!" I look forward to the "Change" you will bring to our country. I pray it is for our good as I trust that is your intention.