Landslide

I'd like to say "the results are in", but as I write this the 26 electoral votes for Missouri and North Carolina are still up in the air. There's been some kind of weirdness in Georgia too, something about the vote totals being rediculously low, so some folks have thrown their 15 EV's back out too.

However, even without them Obama has the largest electoral victory since Regan. When you add in what happened with the house and senate races, it's clear the Republicans got spanked.

I was expecting the win of course, but the implications of it didn't actually hit me until it was announced. It is very hard indeed not to see this as a vindication our the ideals of freedom and equality that we have strayed so far from these last 8 years. This is both due to the personal story of the winner, and the resounding nature of the defeat of the current party holding the White House.

Perhaps my favorite story of the night was the impromptu celebration that started (in the rain) in front of the White House. (DC, of course, voted %93 for Obama). From CNN:

At least 1,000 people gathered on Washington's Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House late Tuesday night, shouting "Obama! Obama!" and "Yes we can!" Uniformed Secret Service officers were overheard, saying they'd never seen anything like it.

Of course celebrations weren't even limited to this country. Kenya, the birthplace of Obama's father, has declared tomorrow a national holiday. While other countries aren't going quite that far, there are reports of celebrations all over Europe, Africa, and in parts of Asia.

The more interesting (and perhaps relevent) thing is what this does for US clout. For example, European leaders are openly expressing worries that requests from President Obama for more support in places like Afghanistan are going to be difficult to turn down, due to his popularity with their own constituents.