Yes We Can.

The sun came up this morning, and it is a new day.

One of the regular questions historians grapple with is the "great man theory," an endless argument about whether great historical figures such as Napoleon, Lincoln, or Churchill are individuals of such ability that they reach out and mold the events of their time with the force of their personalities, or whether from time to time the course of historical events reaches a confluence, and creates an opportunity that would elevate any reasonably competent person to extraordinary significance. Are these people creators of their own destinies, or does destiny invent them at need?

It is too early to tell if we are now embarked on one of the periods that will be ranked among these moments in future, but it is not too early to understand that the President-Elect could handle such a burden. I offer this further response: faced with the greatest challenges of a generation- two interminable wars, the greatest financial crisis of a generation, and perhaps most seriously of all, and systematic erosion both domestically and internationally of the American idea- US voters reached for a man of ability and vaulted him ahead of the entrenched interests that would otherwise have dominated this election cycle. Faced with a less systematic assault on the checks and balances of the government, would a fresh-faced minority candidate have been able to outmaneuver Hillary Clinton and her inherited death grip on the party? Obama ran an amazing campaign, but voters would not have responded as energetically without such a poisoned climate for him to operate in.

I argued earlier in this blog that the weekend after the first bailout package failed to correct the financial crisis the McCain campaign was doomed- yes, in part because it further dented the Bush legacy, but more, because it made the election that much more serious. The more clearly we perceived the damage of Republican government, the less prepared voters were to, "...make a big election about small things."

George Bush, Karl Rove...Richard Nixon- your failure is, for the moment, complete. Voters under the age of 30 voted overwhelmingly for Obama. Voters making less than 50k voted overwhelmingly for Obama. Voters making over 200k- the voters Obama explicitly told were going to pay more taxes- voted overwhelmingly for Obama. Obama won in states that Democrats have not won in decades (what up, Virginia?). Markets around the world (what's wrong with you, Japan?) surged at the news of his victory. An Irish friend of mine, sitting stunned before the images from grant park, half-jokingly welcomed us back to the community of nations. Around the world, people who couldn't even vote celebrated. And he did it by trying to see the best in us, not as part of what my polysci classes taught me was the inevitable demographic chiseling that has marked recent American politics. What remains of the Republican party is increasingly old, white, isolated, and most seriously, morally bankrupt. I'm not one who believes in so-called "permanent majorities," but all those younger voters trending Democratic can only be ominous for conservatives.

Do men shape their own destinies? Yes, but to lift this rather out of context, they do not do so just as they choose. Obama is a product of this time as much as of his own will. It remains for him to master it.

And one final thought. To what extent does electing Obama constitute a final overcoming of the original institutional sin of the Republic? We obviously haven't swept away the many problems race still holds for US society, but surely this morning would have been almost as unthinkable in 1976 as it was in 1776.

The idea is the thing. The idea that this is the place you can come and make it, with ability, rather than any other measure of fitness. Today, that idea is greatly strengthened. What an amazing place this country is.