The polls were right all along — America has elected Barack Obama, and proved itself not to be a hateful, bigoted nation. I hope anyone who secretly expected a racist “Bradley effect” to propel John McCain to the White House is now hanging their head in shame: McCain won an honest 47% and bowed out with dignity.

This may amaze the world’s rather large population of anti-Americans. Those who inexplicably thought of America as a racist, ignorant hotbed of religious fundamentalism can now open their eyes. Those who would sooner side with Saddam, Ahmadinejad, Hezbollah, Hamas or the Taleban than spare a kind word for President Bush can now rejoin the ranks of the rational and support America again. But those of us who were pretty pro-American all along — and who rather liked both candidates this year — can be both unsurprised and cautiously optimistic.

My first thought is that the best outcome of this election might well be the Obamamoon: the months of sheer optimism before the new administration has to do anything. All this talk of the “racial barrier falling” might actually result in racial barriers falling. Obama’s election won’t lift the poor out of poverty or rebuild New Orleans, but it’s solid proof that America’s black minority is no longer disenfranchised and tyrannised by a racist white majority — and this can only aid social cohesion. Martin Luther King’s dream, technically speaking, has been fulfilled: Obama was judged not the by the colour of his skin but by the content of his personality.

Obama’s domestic and foreign policies — this is where I’m sceptical. But I wait to be proved wrong. I fear a human tragedy in Iraq if America withdraws prematurely, but maybe not — the surge has worked so well that withdrawal by April 2010 may now be feasible. I fear Obama lacks the experience to tackle global threats, and that Iran may get the bomb on his watch, but maybe not — perhaps this is sheer paranoia. And I fear that Obama, having pledged both a massive tax cut for 95% of Americans and a massive increase in federal spending, may turn out to be full of hot air and Blairier than Blair. But maybe not. Because, as we have already seen, this guy breaks all the rules.

Filed under: barackobama, democracy, election2008, johnmccain, jonathanbirch, republican, uspolitics on November 5th, 2008