Now that the election is over, I've heard a lot of skeptics saying things like "I hope that Obama lives up to the hype." Or, proponents claiming, "My faith in American politics has been slightly restored."

Personally, I'd like to see thoughtful, measured and strategic governance, combined with some swift action with regard to the U.S. economy and rebuilding relationships around the world.  Things aren't going to change overnight, but hope is a powerful thing to be restored in our future.  I never really lost hope, but I was definitely frustrated with 8 years of one of the worst presidencies since Carter was in office (I'm fair in my criticisms of poor leaders in both parties).

What are your post-election thoughts?  What are your expectations of Obama?  What are you most excited about with a change in leadership?  What are you most fearful of with this change?

Please share your thoughts.

From the conservative perspective I'm a little concerned about the next four years.  My biggest disappointment during the Bush administration was how the government grew to new levels and I fear that Obama will continue that trend.

Our country was founded on individual liberties and responsibility and I see Obama going in the opposite direction. The whole concept of entitlements from government, such as health care, cash checks, and so on slowly chop away at the American spirit that spurs greatness.  I think in an ideal world, the government's responsibility should be very limited to defense, infrastructure, educational standards, financial guidelines and little more.  Get government out of the way and let the individual guide the country, economy and so on.  There's rarely ever been a problem where government was the solution, typically it's the problem.

America is the most generous land in the world, giving away more wealth than many other countries combined.  We should let this generosity flourish internally and abroad from the goodness of American hearts.  Obama's redistributionist perspective is akin to stealing a steak from your neighbor's grill so you can feed another neighbor.  Why not just let your neighbor invite them over and give out of their heart.  This has worked, and worked well, for hundreds of years.

I don't want to clog up this forum with a rant, so here's a link to a blog post on my site entitled, American Values I'm Teaching My Kids... And You should too: http://therogueparent.com/blog/?p=427   

I for one hope that he succeeds beyond our wildest dreams.  My logic for stating that is simple, if he doesn't succeed, we all don't succeed.

That being said though, I am very concerned about his policies about health care, taxes and government responsibility.  I think that he is will take things in, what I consider, the wrong direction.  Unfortunately, all that he has to do is to continue many of the policies that the current administration has.

I know that one thing is for sure, he has motivated me to get more involved.  I want to do this because I want to make sure that my children and their children don't end up paying financially for the decisions that he makes.

I for one am extremely happy he won the election. Watching him that night in Grant Park was amazing. Not a sight I will soon forget.

Although, I'm glad he won, but it's gonna be a little sad to see Bush go. Who are we gonna poke fun at now?