Whether you voted for Barack Obama or John McCain, one thing has become apparent after last night's Presidential Election - the baton has been handed over from the older generations to the younger generations.  Statistically, the younger the voter, the more likely that they voted for Obama.  The only generation which McCain had a clear majority support for was in the 65 and older category. Not only will President-elect Obama be the first Black POTUS, he will also be known as one of the younger men to have such an honor, at age 47, he will be the 5th youngest elected President (6th overall youngest to hold the title).

With a clear victory in both the electoral college and the popular vote (current numbers are reflecting Obama's 53% to McCain's 46%), the American public has made it very clear the direction it wishes to go.  As the world continues to shrink with continued advances in technology (i.e. the internet), Americans are beginning to take more notice of how our decisions in the Oval Office directly affect not only American citizens, but the citizens of the world.  More and more, we are realizing that to be the greatest nation in the world means that we must act responsibly, reasonably and tactfully.

Eight years of extreme neoconservative foreign policy has had an extremely detrimental affect on our ability to successfully lead the rest of the Democratic world.  This policy, which has been building since the 1960's, will hopefully come to an abrupt halt after January 20th, 2009.  If Obama keeps to his ideals, no longer will we resort to gunboat diplomacy, the "speak softly and carry a big stick" approach made famous by Teddy Roosevelt, which has done nothing in the past 60 years except to alienate our enemies further.  Instead, we will see a more sensible approach to our foreign issues - the idea of creating a dialog instead of threatening violence and forced submission.  Hopefully such a fundamental shift in thinking will have a positive outcome - and if it doesn't, we still have our military.

While I disagreed with our invasion of Iraq, I realize that we must be willing to ensure that this newly democratized country doesn't flounder before it has even had the chance to stand on it's own two feet.  Obama realizes this.  He also realizes that Osama Bin Laden is not in Iraq, but is instead hiding out in the mountains of either Afghanistan or Pakistan.  I spoke recently with a very close friend of mine who has spent more than 3 years in either Iraq or Afghanistan as a member of our special forces, and he believes that we should be concentrating more forces (most notably special ops) against the Taliban.  By shifting some of our fresh troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, we can ensure that we continue on a positive path in the middle east.  Iraq needs to be given the opportunity to begin taking on it's own problems - it's time to remove the training wheels.. but that doesn't mean we're not going to stop keeping an eye to make sure they do not stray from the right path.

With increasingly unpopular support in his home country, Ahmadenijad's days are numbered as President of Iran.  While the majority of Iranians support nuclear energy, they do not support nuclear weapons.  The history of Iran's nuclear program (first built with the help of the United States) proves that the Iranians are willing to ensure that their nuclear sites will not allow for uranium enrichment which could then be used in weapons technologies.  However, due to increasingly hostile threats from our current U.S. President, such fail safes are currently off the table.  While I believe that we should continue to stay firm with Iran, I also believe that when Ahmadenijad looses his re-election in 2009, we will have a much greater opportunity to resolve this issue diplomatically.  Iranians are increasingly supportive of further pushes towards democracy - even the Clerics are not as powerful as they once were.

There are many other foreign policy issues which the new President will need to make important decisions are, but for the sake of my own mind, I'll move on.  

While the Pundits like Hannity will continue to decry Obama's coming Presidency as a turn towards socialism, the reality is that there are countless millions of Americans who are tired of the status quo.  Regardless of potential tax increases for the wealthy and big business, the fact is that the average working American has had to make extreme sacrifices while the rich have continued to grow richer.  Those who deserve help the most are those who have been working extremely hard but continue to be hit by the economy - gas prices, food prices, sky-rocketing health care costs, tightening credit, slower economic growth in general.  Most are not looking for hand-outs; most are not looking for freebies.  We're looking for equal opportunity and a fair chance to ensure we can live healthy lives. 

While most ideas which Obama has spoken of will most likely not be implemented immediately (or at all), the basic idea of ensuring that all Americans have the same opportunity to make something of themselves has been re-planted.  As Americans, I believe we deserve the opportunity for affordable (not free) health care.  As Americans, I believe it is important that we ensure that all who work are treated with a sense of fairness, dignity and respect as it pertains to wages.  As Americans, I believe it is important for us to ensure that when someone needs a boost, we can help them out, knowing that the lifetime benefit will outweigh the short-term cost.  As Americans, I believe that every man, woman and child should have an equal opportunity to have quality education.  None of these ideas should be implemented for free - but they should be made (or kept) possible so that we may all benefit from our great society.  I think this election has proven that the average American agrees with most (if not all) of these basic principles.  We do not wish to hand out money to those who are not willing to work for it.  We do not wish to create a communist, socialist or Marxist government.  We must be willing to invest in ourselves, if we hope to stay on top.

There is no doubt that the majority of Americans want to break our dependence on foreign oil.  Where some of us differ is on the methods regarding this.  I, like many Americans believe that we should break our dependence on oil period.  Obama believes in this as well - and I think this can be one of the defining moments of his Presidency - an Executive push towards alternative and renewable sources of fuel and energy.  America has spoken - the mantra of "Drill baby, drill!" reflects an aging mentality which would only stave the problem, and not solve it.  With an Obama Presidency, I look forward to a much greater possibly of a continual decrease in oil usage, and a continual increase (hopefully exponentially) in alternative fuel sources - solar, wind, hydro (including wave), water, etc.  

Quickly fading are the ideals of Karl Rove, Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney, et al.

I realize that the road ahead will be rocky.  Change will not happen overnight.  In many cases, it will not happen during the Obama presidency.  The important thing to realize is that the seed has been planted.  Progress, instead of regress.  I look forward to the future.