PRESIDENT OBAMA

I wake up today proud. Excited. And so should you, no matter who you voted for, you should be proud that the day has finally come when we have progressed so far as to look beyond race and elect the right man for the job. The most powerful person in the world is a black American man... and you should feel good about that.

On my way to work, NPR played some audio clips of distraught Republicans attending a party for incumbent Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss. These people were shocked at Obama's victory. They were horrified at the idea. They described their feelings as comparable to their reaction to the one moment in American history that no man or woman of this generation should dare equate with any other feeling: 9/11. "This is the beginning of the end of America as we know it," they claim. And it is. After eight long years of diminishing worldwide respect, the United States has now shown that it can stand up and show the world that we are in fact the land of opportunity - where a person, no matter their race, their gender or their upbringing, can be elected President of the United States. Today I am proud.