Time for a Novice

Well what a night it was.

A truly momentous win by Barack Obama. He won and won big. He won every state that Kerry did in 2004 and gained Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, New Mexico, Virginia, and it seems North Carolina will go his way. He won 52% of the popular vote. All night, he just won...

The victory speech in Chicago at 5am UK time was something I will never forget - a spine tingling moment. It was the same feeling I had back at University sitting watching the television in awe as the Berlin Wall was pulled down. I thought the speech was stunning, delivered with passion and supreme confidence. Excuse me for repeating some if it here:

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

I had endorsed Obama some time ago. I have long had the view that his election was necessary to restore the reputation of the US in the world. His election has huge symbolism for the US too. Love him or hate him, I don't think anyone can not have been moved by the sight of Jesse Jackson in tears to see what Obama had achieved.  40 years ago he was at Martin Luther King's side as he was shot dead in Memphis. Today he was standing in Grant Park, Chicago listening to Obama as everything he and the civil rights movement had worked so hard for and sacrificed so much to finally achieved the dream.

Obama has managed to inspire many of those who needed to be inspired. What a night it was...