Barack Obama is the 44th US President, and the first African-American to reach the highest office of that land. Woo. I haven’t been this excited since when I voted for the first time here in Australia, when we too aching for change, ended the long reign of a politically conservative leader (John Howard, 11 years) and installed a fresh government led by Kevin Rudd.

By electing a black man for President, America has shown that it has turned around a very large corner. And by choosing a calm and intelligent person, American shows that it is ready to engage the world in a way that is vastly different to how it has been for the past 8 years.

Hopefully at the very least, it is ready to engage with the rest of us in a more inclusive and cooperative manner. And that is why I eagerly followed the election results today, and it is why I’m so excited about this truly historic win.

The Promise - For Many Abroad, an Ideal Renewed - NYTimes.com

However, the honeymoon will be short-lived as the US is still reeling from a huge economic crisis, with two foreign wars draining its coffers daily. As McCain had said of himself, and had implied that Obama couldn’t, he will need to show that he is capable of handling problems both domestic and international on day one.

Hard choices and challenges follow - Washington Post- msnbc.com
CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Little rest for Obama, analysts say

But today has been a joyous day indeed.

Obama combo breaker
(originally by Patrick Moberg, thanks Phil!)