Marvin Gaye, "You're the Man"

President Obama.

Er, President-elect Obama.

Ah, hell. President Obama. It's got a nice ring to it, hasn't it?

Congratulations, Senator Obama, on the campaign you've run, on your ability to persuade a majority of the nation's voters that you are the right man to be running this country. I am one of the millions who believed you. Please lead with wisdom and prove us right.

But first, if I may, a word to the people running the Republican party: Please don't pretend McCain's was the best campaign that could have been run. Yes, it's a difficult economic climate, never a good thing for the incumbent party, but if you had persuaded the nation that you had a finance plan superior to Obama's, a whole lot of suffering Americans would have gotten in line behind you. Instead you focused an entire campaign on distractive elements, let your worst side show. Please take this opportunity to work with the Democrats over the next four years; we will need not only your support but your active assistance.

Now, to be honest, I have a hard time believing we can get our debt under control, reassert the stability of our banks, maintain our infrastructure, make universal health care a reality, and develop a green-tech economy, all by gingerly upticking the tax rates of the $250K-plus class. That number's gonna have to come down, far down, to include much more of the middle class, I suspect - but I'm behind Obama anyway. If that's what it takes, then that's what it takes. Best we can hope for is that getting corruption and fraud in government spending under control will give us a lot more to work with.

But let us have one night of celebration before we start setting down to business. I watched Obama's victory speech with a great sense of pride; he validated everything I've valued about him. "I will listen to you - especially when we disagree," he promised America. And to those who did not vote for him: "I hear your voices; I need your help - and I will be your President too."

Barack Obama, that's why You're the Man.