Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. While I will openly admit I didn’t vote for the Democratic candidate, I still have high hopes for his presidency. Our president-elect has a tough job ahead of him, and I pray that he is up for the challenge.

I sincerely hope he will be the breath of fresh air that our country needs and that he will be able to affect the positive change necessary to strengthen this nation. But he will not be able to do it alone. He will need the support of the House and the Senate, as well as the American people.

I was heartened by John McCain’s speech, conceding the election to Obama. He spoke of cooperation, rather than partisan politics. That is what this country will need to thrive in the future.

Even though my candidate may not have been victorious, I am still glad to have exercised my Constitutional right to vote. And I’m proud to say I didn’t need a star-shaped doughnut with patriotic sprinkles or a cup of free coffee (with cream and two sugars, please) to sweeten the deal, so to speak. Heck, I didn’t even get a sticker to prove to my boss that I actually had a valid reason for being late to work on Tuesday.