In FDR's terms, the "now, go out and make me do it" phase is just beginning - as how the election result is framed and turned into action will make all the difference in what happens from here on in.
And it isn't just the U.S. which has a stake in ensuring that the Democrats live up to their promise. For anybody in Canada or around the world who wants to see NAFTA and other trade agreements reworked to include meaningful labour and environmental protections, or who recognizes the link between corporate-driven U.S. policies and a race to the bottom elsewhere in the name of competition, now is the time to convert the energy and hope which drove last night's ballot-box repudiation of Bushism into ongoing issue-based action. And if that effort succeeds, then last night will be only the first of many victories to come.
Update: Good to see that Obama himself seems to agree:
(A)bove all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
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