Column: Obama's Election Marks No Small Change

This story was written by Joseph Bui, Daily Californian

But not in the way that you probably think. Yes, my vote would help send someone whose combination of skin pigment was a little bit closer to mine into the White House. But to me, it meant so much more than that.

It was about changing the trajectory of this country. For decades, the American people have continually elected presidents who desperately clung to the idea that government should do as little as possible in terms of the economy, turning a blind eye to an ugly economic reality.

As someone who grew up in a single-parent home that did benefit from food banks at one point, I know firsthand that as great as this country is, weare nota utopia where hard work is always rewarded or where anyone from any background has the same chance to succeed in life. I mean, before you can ask someone to pull themselves up from their boot straps, you have to make sure they have boots to begin with.

And I'm not excluding the man who was figuratively dubbed the first black president sixteen years ago, at a time when the idea of a biologically black president seemed like a complete impossibility.

As any of you who, like me, obsessed over politics when all of your friends were into the whole "Gotta Catch 'Em All" Pokemon scene will remember, Bill Clinton didn't run as a standard, populist Democrat.

He ran as a "third way" candidate, arguing that he, not the GOP, was the symbol for those terrified by the prospect of big, imposing government. In short, saying that he would tell the bureaucrats "screw you" (I'm guessing he thought Monica Lewinsky was a bureaucrat?) when they tried to control our civil liberties or economic pursuits.

A promise that he unfortunately fulfilled -- at least in part. Whether you want to believe it or not, it was under the Clinton administration that welfare benefits were drastically cut, or to put it in more politically-friendly terms, "reformed." (For the record, I still have an incredible respect for Bill Clinton -- one that helped lead me to support his wife in the primaries.)

A recognition that people are sometimes going to need help from the government is something that Sen. Barack Obama ... scratch that ... President-elect Barack Obama never compromised on, even after the Republican attack machine brought "Joe the Plumber" to the forefront of their campaign -- who, for whatever reason, was believed to be qualified to characterize an additional three percent tax on the wealthiest five percent in the nation as some type of neo-socialism.

As a lifelong cynic and ex-Hillary supporter, Obama's whole warm and fuzzy change campaign used to drive me completely off the wall -- at least during the primaries, where the threat of a third consecutive GOP term wasn't the immediate threat. To me, he seemed like any other politician in the Democratic Party, and the idea that he would completely revolutionize Washington seemed like complete bull.

I hate saying this, especially as a columnist who really enjoys writing inan "I have all the answers" tone, but I was wrong.

Obama is the standard Democratic Party candidate. And you know what? That's exactly why he will revolutionize Washington.

The Obama economic plan to build a large, strong middle class doesn't end at providing a tax cut for those of us who could actually feel the impact of the economic crisis. It's about promoting a health care plan that widely expands coverage, including a mandate to cover all children.His college affordability plan promises to expand the number of students eligible for financial aid, heling young people fulfill the American dream the way he clearly has.

McCain made the choice in this election very clear in terms of the economy. You can choose to have a government that does nothing in the face of a growing class divide -- the same way it was run by the economically disastrous Bush regime ... er ... administration. Or you could have a government that dared to help the people who needed it most.

Using amazing oratory gifts as well as a strange alignment of the stars that forced the economy to become the big issue in this election, Obama was able to change the attitudes of the country.

We voted for change, and since I can't control my desperate need to make cheesy jokes, let me say that it is the kind that we can believe in -- at least I hope it is. Sorry, I guess I'm still a bit of a cynic.