Riding into a storm

If I had to pick one word to describe the culmination of the US Presidential race it would be “electric”. From the 240,000 who gathered to hear Obama’s address in Grant Park, to the parties that are still going on in Washington, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Wherever, there is – and has been – an electricity about this campaign that current British politics can only dream of replicating.

As Fraser and James have noted, that America has elected its first black President is a point for celebration.  But tomorrow – tomorrow America needs to concentrate on the challenges facing the 44^th President. I’m reminded of the final shot of John Ford’s magisterial Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), which shows a pre-Presidential Abe Lincoln riding over a hill, towards a brooding storm cloud in the distance. Obama, now, is riding into his own storm cloud – one of recession, financial crisis, terror threats, and anything else that may be unleashed over the next four years. Will he be up to the job? Time, as the cliché goes, will tell.

But – for today at least – that electricity. Here’s selected footage of both Obama’s victory speech and John McCain’s gracious concession speech. The beginning of Obama’s speech so encapsulates what has been great about this election, that it deserves to be reproduced:

“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.”