So what will actually change under Obama to make the world a better place?

[MadameCastafiore]

Honestly I would like to know what you expect him to be able to do?

try again

closing Guantanemo Bay will make the world a better place.

Reversing some of the deregulation of the banking and finance industry in the US will make the world a better place.

Engaging in dialogue with so called enemies (eg Iran, Hamas, Syria)will make the world a better place.

Shall I continue? madamcastafiore has gone very quiet I see.

I reckon the world is in safer hands with Obama than with Bush or McCain. However I doubt he is any kind of saint as honest politicans don't win elections.

It is good in principle to see a black president elected, but I thought it was a big step forward when the UK got a female Prime Minister. It turned out that Margaret Thatcher was a man on the inside and little changed.

I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for great changes. I imagine his first order of business will be rewarding those who did 'favours' to get him elected.

Thatcher was not a man on the inside, but a monster.

I'm not too convinced he will change anything for the better.

More that McCain/Palin would have made things worse.

MadameC, have you been around here long?

you seem to be trying to make an name for yourself

ooh, you sound like a sore loser MC!

How about ending the carnage in Iraq, action on climate change, no commitment or intention to overturn Roe v Wade, greater access to healthcare for the poor?
Not to mention this huge, unbelievably wonderful symbol of change he physically embodies, that has given hope to generations of black people in America, and even around the world. The old black guy buying a newspaper this morning in my local newsagent had tears in his eyes this morning.
Also, vitally, he's not McCain and Palin, which is reason enough to dance in the streets today.

Odd to see a feminist arguing against fighting the Taliban.

Obviously Bush being gone cannot be bad.
I hope that Obama will show a bit more humanity in how he deals with people and issues - certainly closing Guantanamo would show some human decency.
But as for big change, I doubt it. Obama has inherited a country which is up shit creek with no spare cash. And the US is, at the end of the day, an extremely conservative country, so I think any change will come in the form of baby steps. Don't forget that many improvements will take more than 4 years to implement, and he is not going to want to alienate the more conservative of his voters until he has secured a second term.

I think the perception of America globally has shifted for the better as a result of Obama's elections.

That is important for Americans and for the rest of us.

www.iftheworldcouldvote.com/results

someone said 'Just to add, that I did vote for Obama even though I am not personally that far to the left.'

He's not left wing!!! He's still right of our conservative party!

I thought they had to secure a "yes" vote of 2/3 to vote Prop 8 in? Last time I checked they were well short of that mark so it wouldn't pass?

he is intelligent. that's a huge difference in and of itself isn't it?

agree, sophable, and with donnie too
something has changed, and for the better
surely that's a start

oh, he is so not to the right of our conservative party. I mean, I agree that it's a historic, marvellous moment just him being elected, but I do think there's an awful lot of people acting in the same way I did when I used my first ever vote to put Tony Blair in office the first time round, and look what a royal fuck-up that ended up as.

It's good, really it is, but he's not the messiah, even if he isn't a very naughty boy either.

how will the media react if/when he decides that america need to strong arm iran into coming to the negotiating table? i mean i personally think that it needs to happen but how do you think his hope/change message will hold up when he starts dropping bombs?

Guantanamo is reason alone to be happy that Obama has won, and McCain has lost.
Compare and contrast:
?We need to bring to a close this sad chapter in American history, and begin a chapter that passes the might of our military to the freedom of our diplomacy and the power of our alliances. And while we are at it, we can close down Guantanamo and we can restore habeas corpus and we can lead with our ideas and our values.?
-Barack Obama, Richmond, VA, May 8th

Obama, McCain Respond to Guantanamo Bay Ruling
By Michael D. Shear
The presidential candidates reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today to grant terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay access to the federal courts.

Republican John McCain told reporters in Boston that he had not yet read the opinion, but expressed concerns about the rights it might impart to the people being held there.

"These are unlawful combatants, they are not American citizens and I think we should pay attention to Justice Roberts' opinion in this decision," McCain said, referring to the chief justice's dissent. "But it is a decision that the Supreme Court has made. Now we need to move forward. As you know I always favored closing Guantanamo Bay and I still think we ought to do that."

Democrat Barack Obama issued a statement expressing support for the decision, saying that it strikes the proper balance between fighting terrorism and "protecting our core values."

"The Court's decision is a rejection of the Bush Administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo -- yet another failed policy supported by John McCain," Obama said. "This is an important step toward reestablishing our credibility as a nation committed to the rule of law, and rejecting a false choice between fighting terrorism and respecting habeas corpus."

Obama said he voted against the Military Commissions Act, which created the extra-judicial system of hearings for detainees at Guantanamo, because of "sloppiness" that would lead to the kind of decision the court announced yesterday.

"The fact is, this Administration's position is not tough on terrorism, and it undermines the very values that we are fighting to defend," he said. "Bringing these detainees to justice is too important for us to rely on a flawed system that has failed to convict anyone of a terrorist act since the 9-11 attacks, and compromised our core values."

KayHiding true about the atmosphere after Tony Blair being elected (that was my first ever vote too not long after my 18th birthday too - and yes I voted labour ).

However, despite the large number of major fuck-ups by the labour government they have introduced some things which have made things better - admittedly some empoyers still don't abide by the law - but imagine if the minimum wage hadn't been introduced in 1999, how much harder (than they already are!) would the working poor in this country be finding things atm if all employers just payed peanuts to them.....

The tax credits system, yes again some royal fuck-ups in the system but overall it helps a lot of poor families.

I'm sure there are other things the Labour government introduced which haven't been a total disaster - but no longer being a hardened Labour supporter I couldn't run off what they are right now.

(and NO I don't vote Tory I have northern blood in me and could never bring myself to do it - I vote either Lib Dem, or, as if often the case when it's only a choice between Red and Blue turn up but spoil my paper well I figure that at least turning up and putting something on the paper is better than not turning up at all and then complaining afterwards........)

Yes, because women in Afghanistan had a lovely time under the Taliban, didn't they? Just peachy. Honestly, it is INSANE and blinkered in the extreme for a feminist to argue we should just leave the Taliban to it.

the main problem with TOny Blair was his habitual arselicking of George Bush, whose evil regime we are celebrating the end of today!