One Nation

The recent election of Barack Obama to the office of President of the United States was a historical moment in our nations history, becoming the first person of color to ever be elected President of the United States.

Mr. Obama won by winning the majority of the votes of all of the American people who voted in the election. Therefore, he is not obligated to any one group for his victory. He is not the President of just Blacks, or whites, or Native Americans, or Asians or Latinos. Mr. Obama is not the President of just liberals, or progressives, or moderates or conservatives. He was elected to the office of President of the United States of America, with all of the above voting blocs contributing to his victory.

Mr. Obama won because the majority of the voters believed in his message that America needed a leader in the White House that could repair the damage done to our nation after eight years of the inept and incompetent leadership of the Bush administration. The voters also believed that under the leadership of an Obama admninistration America would regain its moral, political and economic stature in the world as well as create prosperity at home.

The reality is that Mr. Obama alone cannot wave a magic wand after he takes the oath of office in January of 2009, and all will be right in America. The problems he inherits are many, from the struggling economy, the continued wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the aging of our infrastructure, not to mention dangers in far corners of the world that have yet to materialize. The question is not so much what Mr. Obama will do, it is more of what are we as citizens going to do?

As citizens in a democracy, we have an obligation to support the policies and programs put forth by the politicians we elect that will move the nation in a positive direction. Policies and programs that we believe will ensure the continued prosperity, security and freedoms for future generations of our nation. We cannot sit by idly and hope that all will be well without taking an active role in the governing of this country. There is too much work to be done in each and every community in this land for us to wait on the government to correct the wrongs we see each day. We all must decide what issue(s) in our community merit our attention and aggressively attack that issue with every fiber of our being until we have discovered a solution.

Over the last eight years, we have seen how partisan politics has stalled or even stopped good legislation from moving forward in Congress creating no real solutions to the problems we are facing today. Do not think for one moment that there are still those in Congress and this nation who will work tirelessly against any and every initiative coming from the Obama White House in order to regain control of the power wielded from the White House, bringing back the failed polices of the past that got us into the situation we are in today. These individuals care nothing about what is good for the country, only what is good for them.

Mr. Obama needs all of us to do our part in helping him govern over the next four years because America needs all of us to do work together toward the common good of the nation. We must civilly agree to disagree with Mr. Obama whenever disagree with a policy or program that comes out of the White House. What we also must do is not just complain about the policy or program, but present an alternative answer that creates a solution. Solutions to our problems are all that matter now, whether you are on the left or right, Republican or Democrat, moderate or independent.