Our nation is changed forever

I like this post from conservative writer Megan McArdle:

Whether or not you are for Obama, the candidate, I think you have to admit that there is one pretty exciting thing happening today:  we will never again live in an America where a black man can't be elected president.   It's a great day for all of us--the thought really does thrill me every time I think it, even though I know I'm going to hate an awful lot of his policymaking.  But it's especially great for those who were, in earlier days, barred from that sort of achievement.

Which prompted a reader to write into libertarian blogger Glenn Reynolds:

UPDATE: Reader Rahul Banta writes: "I think one take away from this election cycle is that never again will two white men ever be successful running for President and Vice President. I think this election has changed all that permanently. For better or worse we now will have at least one woman and one minority person on one of the major parties ticket, perhaps even in the same person and anything other than that will be seen as somehow out of touch or not very representative of America. The amazing thing is this all happened without anyone really noticing it."

I also like this found on Glenn's blog:

JIM MANZI: "There are about 1,460 days until the next Presidential election, and I assume that I will spend approximately the next 1,459 of them opposing Barack Obama. But I’m spending today proud abut what my country has overcome."

It doesn't matter whether you're Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal -- the election of Barack Obama is a major milestone in this country.  It gives us hope that the ugly issues of race can become merely historical references in textbooks.

We should be proud of our country today, and for those of us who might oppose some or all of Obama's agenda, raise that opposition with equal measures of vigor and respect.  But we shouldn't let mere partisanship or over-simplified campaign rhetoric distract us from the work of moving the country, and our communities, forward.