So it is the day after the election of Barack Obama. As you may expect, it is all that anyone is talking about today. It is a seminal event in so many ways not which the least being a change from the eight years of the Bush administration and the philosophies that have guided this nation.

It was a long night for me last night though not because of the results themselves. When Pennsylvania was called shortly its polls were closed and the trends were favorable to Obama in such states like Indiana and Florida, I knew then it was virtually a done deal. The call at 11:00pm when the west coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California closed their polls was a mere formality but one that had to be followed as it was those states that caused him to reach the threshold of 270 electoral votes. Still, it was nice to seeing such stalwart Republican states like Virginia come over to the Democratic side of the vote tally.

As the vote totals kept coming in, I hit all of my commentary sites on the Internet for additional results, and analysis. I brought my Mac out to the kitchen so i could use the computer while watching the networks. As for the networks, I stuck closely to my chosen ensemble of MSNBC, NBC and CNN. I had been using them for the course of this entire election season and I was not going to change now.

This morning I followed up on some of the outstanding races to be called when I finally turned in for th night. North Carolina is a state that still is yet to be called for Obama even with his 12,000 vote lead as there are many votes, absentee and provisional ballots, to be allocated but the total number remains less than Obama’s lead.

As for the rest of the races, Democrats have expanded on their leads in the Senate and Congress from the 2006 elections. Not as sweeping as expected but still quite decisive. Enough to give Democrats a mandate of sorts to enact some significant changes in how things are now done in this country.

Here in North Carolina, Kay Hagen decisively defeated Elizabeth Dole. Dole’s near invisibility in this state since she was elected along with her age and pro-Bush policies put in her in a bad spot but the clincher was the ad she ran accusing Hagan of being an atheist when Hagan was a prominent member in her church. For the governor’s race, Bev Perdue, Democrat, won over Pat McCory. At the state level, this is a solid conservative Democratic state and it does not seem that is going to change anytime soon.

So what now?

It is go to be a let down for me now as so much of my attention for the past year has been wrapped up in the presidential campaigns. Now that is over, I have to return to my mundane life and deal with the problems of making it through the days.

But I feel pretty good right now. Times are a changing and Barack Obama will see the country through a most difficult time. Choices are not going to be easy and we all will be called upon to make sacrifices. But I have hope that things will work out for the best. Just need some time to set things right.