Barack will have work cut out for him

As John McCain conceded Tuesday night, I received a call from my roommate that Barack Obama had won the 2008 Presidential Election.

The call wasn't needed.

Standing outside the 400 Bar in Minneapolis, I watched car after car pulse down Cedar Avenue. Drivers wildly sounded their horns and shouted, "Obama!" at pedestrians.

Obama supporters, sitting on window ledges and protruding through sunroofs, waved signs and chanted, "Yes we can!" At the heart of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, hundreds of supporters, many of them Somali and Kenyan, celebrated outside the Nomad World Pub.

Observing this celebration from the opposite side of the street, police came to prevent the celebration from shifting onto the road.

Soon I realized that this passionate electricity was not only pumping throughout the city, but the entire United States.

Pride among citizens was renewed last night as they, along with the electoral college, elected the 44th president of the United States.

Although final figures are not yet compiled, some 130 to 140 million citizens were expected to vote, up from 121 million four years ago. Based on these figures, it is apparent that the people want to restore the economic status that once dignified our country, renew the foreign policy that has shifted from relations to onslaught, and, most importantly, have a say in electing their own president.

Recalling the events of Election Day on Wednesday morning, my mind flooded with "what if" scenarios. What if the 2008 Presidential Election mirrored the result of the election eight years ago? What if one candidate received more popular votes, but lost because another candidate was granted more electoral votes?

Since the 2000 election, the majority of U.S. citizens have seemed to accept that their country is not a true democracy.

However, if a similar situation were to occur at a time when the United States, a once powerful nation with an economic surplus that has fallen on hard times under poor leadership, would influence a mass movement to ensure that a true democracy would once again be restored.

The issues facing our country will need to be addressed.

Although Obama is charismatic and will hopefully present new ideas, the change needed in our country will not be easily implemented.

According to a CBS News analysis, one third of Americans desired a candidate who will bring about needed change. Basing his entire campaign on the need for this change, Obama has some big shoes to fill.

We will have to wait until Jan. 20, 2009 (and even longer for his policies to take effect) to find out exactly how he will change America.

I remain somewhat skeptical that Obama can reconstruct the array of problems that burden this country.

Tuesday night I celebrated, not because Obama had won the election, but because I came to the realization that the reign of the Bush Administration was finally coming to an end.

The next four years will either mark as one of the greatest reformations in the history of the United States or demonstrate that eight years of bad decisions under an incompetent leader will take decades to overcome.

Once again I ponder, what if Obama doesn't bring about change?