Initial reaction?

Yay!

I imagine I'll have more reactions later. :x

Damn excited!! =)

I actually voted McCain believe it or not, and considering it was my first time voting, I don't feel very happy. Not necessarily because Obama's going to be president, but because the person I voted for didn't win. It feels a little sad. But regardless, it's been a historic election, so I'm excited at the same time. I'm excited to see how he does.

I am so friggin excited. I'm laughing and drinking and hugging my love and doing my share of celebrating.

to quote a friend-- did the president elect just use the word GAY in an acceptance speech? yes. yes he did

I called my mother at 11:15 and cooed, "Whooooo's your presideeeent?" After 5 minutes of cajoling her, I finally got her to mumble, "Barack O-friggin-bama."

I also called her when my state (PA) went blue: "Pennsylvania just went blue. Blue like my SOUL."

Score! comes to mind. hehe

Fuck yes comes to mind.

Mixed - most of me says yes thank God hallelujah and all the rest, the country will turn around now.

But I'm also thinking about the military, the guys that are my friends, what's going to happen with all of that...

None the less definitely something to celebrate!

I honestly didn't like either Obama or McCain as presidential candidates...but I am freaking thankful the stupid campaign ads will end now, and maybe, just maybe, the people will take down the freaking 5 foot signs out of their yards (seriously, what's wrong with the 3 foot signs? Aren't those big enough?). I am glad the whole thing is over with now.

There were some big things that really turned me off of both candidates, but this has been a historic election anyways. I know Obama being the first African American president is a huge deal, but was anybody else getting extremely sick of hearing the "white voters" and the "black voters" while the votes were coming in? Geez, why aren't we past some of this sick segregation. I would hope the people voting, would NOT vote only because of skin color, no matter if it was for or against...NO duh Obama tried to appeal to the "white voters" too...I thought he was trying to appeal to the middle class, no matter their race. Anyways, the commenters made me sick, but I'm excited for (hopefully good) change.

I have mixed feelings about it too. I'm SO relieved that McCain didn't get elected, but either guy wasn't exactly ideal president material. I feel like at least Obama has good intentions...hopefully that'll be good enough.

I totally agree with Bulma about the white/black voter thing. I mean, I know a lot of people felt that race was important in this election (not just because Obama would be the first black president) but it was still pretty blatantly segregation. They did the same thing with women voters. Did a break down and showed how many of Hillary's people Obama got despite the fact that McCain had Sarah Palin. I mean, I know there will always be people who are like "I'm voting for Obama because I'm black and he's black too" or "I'm voting for Hillary/Sarah Palin because I'm a woman and she's a woman too" but how stupid do people think we are? I mean, just because Palin has a vagina doesn't mean that we're going to elect her as VP. And just because Obama has a high percent of the "black vote" doesn't mean that they're electing him because he's black. I'm sure a lot of those voters come from the middle and lower classes (just like a lot of white votes - including mine).

Another thing that bugged me was they were talking about the "brown/black divide" when discussing Florida. I was thinking, WTH is that? They were questioning whether Latinos would elect a black president. I was like, huh? You honestly think ALL of these people are that dumb that they're just not going to vote for Obama because he's black. I know there are people who did that. Didn't vote for him because he's black, but it was insulting, implying that an entire community was going to hold whatever kind of grudge and refuse to make informed decisions.

I know that I'm getting a little heated, but I understand that there's safety in community. That black people generally feel more comfortable with other blacks and the same goes for whites, Latinos, Asians, etc. It's a natural thing, it's wanting to fit in and it's surface level. It just feels odd, exploited like that on national television.

Bulma, I totally agree with you on this one. I couldn't believe how much they focused on the race/sex card. Why would that make such a big difference anyway?? Also on a side note I hate that white people have to be careful about saying anything bad about black people but it's not the same vice versa. Why is it ok to be racist the other way?

Same thing for women being sexist against men.... Bah. Whatever it just annoys me.

sexxational - I can understand feeling comfortable in a community, but I think a community is what you make it. In the military you meet the most varied people and end up with a real 'pick n mix' - being exposed to different cultures and ethnicities promotes tolerance and education.

Woot!

I am glad to see that Obama won the election. I was really taken aback by the number of times that the Republican party tried to use fear to get people to vote for them. It just seemed like so often I would hear some one talk about the fear of Socialism or how "they" were going to take gun rights away or freedom of speech or kill all the babies. It was just driving me nuts. Political parties should run on their own merits not just yell about how much we need to fear the other guy.
Very interesting discussion here though.

Referring to above: I'm just so happy to hear a President (Elect) openly acknowledge the gay community as Americans.

I wonder if any of you have changed your mind about obama?