The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

A cautious, yet ambitious President Elect Barak Hussain Obama, Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois.

Individuals who don’t have the faintest idea of Sri Lankan politics, nor the policies and principals of Obama were excited. The aura in the US was that of a country that is voting for the first time. People in the United State, expect change. Granted, it was their election.

For Sri Lankans, “Change has come. Through red states and blue states. To blacks, hispanics and asians. To Betty the nurse, Jack the wielder and Dixie the stripper. it has come to gay people, straight people and the bi-curious. Wherever there’s darkness, let there be light. Whenever there’s doubt, Always remember, yes we can“.

Facebook, Google Talk, MSN and Yahoo! Messenger were flooded with status messages either hoping for Obama to come into power, and later congratulating him on his victory.

Obamania swept the world. It landed in Sri Lanka as well. Only hope I can have, is the hope that come next Sri Lankan elections, young people would show the same level of enthusiasm and involvement.

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