By Peter Mannino

America has lived up to its ideals. We have finally proven that we actually believe Thomas Jefferson when he wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.” This election has been a triumph for all Americans.

We have shown that we can overcome our history. While our present is not conflict free-racism and bias still exist-we have certainly taken a mighty step forward. Our future will not be mired in the conflicts of the past, and we will be able to face the challenges of tomorrow with a unified front.

Yet, America is not a color blind country, and I hope it will never be color blind. Our diversity is what makes America, well, America. This election has shown that we believe everybody is the same only different, and different is a good thing. Everybody has their own culture, their own beliefs and their own story to tell, and I think President-elect Barack Obama would agree that each story, no matter how different, is an American story.

This election has certainly electrified the country. For the McCain supporters, I am sorry that your candidate lost, but you can take solace in the fact that you are a part of a country that has beaten its history. For all the Obama supporters, let us revel in our victory for the next two months because after that we are in for a rocky road.

Let us not forget the recent tumult that propelled Obama to the presidency. We are facing a financial crisis, a slowing economy, two wars and a continuing terrorist threat. I think President-elect Obama would agree that it is not enough for him to be elected, he must also work to deliver on his promises, and as my mother put it, “he made a lot of promises.”

As president, Obama is going to have to make some very difficult, and without a doubt, some very unpopular decisions, but in those days we must not lose our faith in our leader. It is going to take sacrifices from everyone to come together and fight the battles we will surely face and who better to lead us than Obama? He was the all-inclusive candidate, whose introduction to national politics was a speech where he claimed, “there is not a liberal America and a conservative America-here is the United States of America.”

Sure, President-elect Obama is going to make some mistakes, all politicians do (look at the last eight years), but unlike our last president, Obama will actually learn from his mistakes. It will be nice to have a president who makes decisions based on careful consideration of the facts, instead of a president who makes decisions based on his “gut” instinct.

As for now, President-elect Obama needs to prepare himself for the transition to the presidency. He has already selected Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff, and he must fill the rest of his cabinet with the most talented experts he can find. He has already convened a meeting with his economic advisors and held a news conference in which he appeared calm and presidential. He must continue to exude such confidence in order to reassure the public that he can handle any situation, but he needs to be careful not to step on President Bush’s toes because, as Madeleine Albright pointed out, “there is only one president at a time.”

The bottom line is that while Americans can revel in our triumph, Obama needs to be prepared for anything because we just do not know what is going to happen. The only sure thing is that change is coming; it is just unfortunate that we have to wait two months for it to officially arrive.

Peter Mannino is a sophomore political science student. You may e-mail him at [email protected].