Oh say can you see, the elections are over. Finally!

I don't really think the Americans can refer to the process leading up to their elections as "presidential campaigning". It's more like one long celebrity roadshow, to promote the movies Candidate Wars: Revenge of the Republicans and Candidate Wars: The Democrats Strike Back.
Frankly, I'm so glad it's over now. I was more than tired of being inundated with stories about the mud-slinging between parties and Sarah Palin scandals.

It's amazing to think that in 1962 Robert Kennedy said the following:

The Irish were not wanted here. Now an Irish Catholic is President of the United States. There is no question about it, in the next forty years a Negro can achieve the same position.

It took 46 years for it to become a reality, in a country whose civil rights movement took place from the 60s to the 70s. That's a long time for the fruits of change to ripen!
Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, immediately became involved in the negotiations to end Apartheid and became president of South Africa in 1994. Thankfully the road to democracy locally was much shorter.
Where have you been America? It's taken you how many years to elect an African American into the White House and we're about to see our third black president come into office...
One thing's for sure though, anyone is guaranteed to do a better job than George W. Bush. Thank goodness that train is out of steam, now that it's left a trail of destruction in its wake.
Obama has one heck of a task ahead of him, picking up the mess Bush's administration has left behind. Good luck to him. Hopefully he'll make some sense out of the chaos and get America back on its feet.
His campaign slogan was "Change we need". Despite the gross grammar misconduct there, I must agree; America needs change, desperately. So does the rest of the world - who has had to deal with the consequences of America's re-election of Bush.
As a friend of mine said 4 years ago; America deserves Bush for another 4 years, unfortunately the rest of the world doesn't.
Now that there's someone fresh, young and sensible in the power seat maybe we'll see some good repercussions.
George W. Bush will probably go back to working the hay with his hoe & giant stetson under the Texan sun, in between touring as a circus with the members of his defunct administration.