FOUR MORE YEARS FOR 44

I went to bed early on election night. I wanted to avoid all the puffed up hysterics and news graphics that cluttered up the television screen. I didn't want to be part of the up and down mania of winning electoral votes or the suspense of states too close to call. I didn't want to watch projections and early returns. I didn't want to hear how some voters were being screwed by long lines at polling places and provisional ballots.

I woke up in the middle of the night and googled the election results. Romney had just conceded the election to Obama. The headline read, "Obama wins reelection." I went back to sleep

It's not just the election that's come to an end but all the hype, frustration, poll numbers, and speculation. It's the end of second guessing the impact of the debates and the attacks on our embassy in Libya. It's the end of a Vegas billionaire bankrolling the Romney machine with unimaginable amounts of cash. It's the end of a long year and a half of political posturing and shifting ideologies.

A second term for Obama means Republicans will be more likely to cooperate with the issues that matter to America. We're facing a fiscal crisis that only a coalition of both Republicans and Democrats can resolve. Republicans will be more willing to work with the White House since they don't have to be focused on making Obama’s presidency a one term affair.

Florida is still too close to call but won't make a difference in the outcome.  Obama won all the swing states except for North Carolina. Some pundits even suggest that the Presidents handling of Hurricane Sandy may have given him a bump up in the final outcome.

The President is back in the White House today. Congress is back in session. All those nasty ads have vaporized. The nation is more optimistic and all the negative war chants have faded away. Consumer confidence is up and the economy looks to be in better shape than it did months ago.

The states of Washington and Colorado have voted to legalize the sale of marijuana to all adults. Massachusetts has endorsed medical marijuana programs. Same sex marriage has passed by popular vote in Maine and Maryland. California will keep the death penalty.

It will be a captivating four years. The economy will gradually improve. The culture will change in ways we never imagined. More states will realize that restricting access to soft drugs is financial foolishness.  The Supreme Court will have new, more liberal judges. The global economy will flex its weakened muscles and seek creative opportunities. America will settle down and become less bitterly divided because the rhetoric will be tempered with reason. It's a good day in America and I feel a lot more rested than I have been in a long time.