When I woke up this morning, I’ll admit that who won the presidency did not immediately spring to mind. It was more “shit, my fish is dead.” Thankfully George wasn’t actually dead, he just wasn’t moving at the moment in time…

Sleepy-eyed I turned on my mac and then somehow managed to load up the internet and change the homepage without even realising that I had the results screaming out of the page. As my mind started to function I then realised that I’d totally forgotten about the elections. A quick click back and I was on the BBC’s homepage. Suspicions confirmed – Barack Obama is in fact the next president!

Regardless of who won, we all knew that it would be a positive step forward – either from having the first black president or the first Republican women vice president. The election also importantly saw a vast increase in the numbers of people voting.

My only problem is that I’m not sure whether he can live up to the expectations. As Zhang Hong says “they believe he signals the coming of a changing era, if he keeps his promises.” “If” is a pretty big word. I hope he breaks down my cynicism, because if he doesn’t America will take a step back next time.