Apparently so. Unless you’ve been on a different planet for the past week you’ll be aware that America has elected Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. This isn’t an explicitly political blog (been there, done that) but I thought it would be remiss of me not to comment on such an important event.

At Culture Sluts we are pleased with Obama’s victory, and not just the victory itself but the epic scale of it. (We’re less pleased with the passing of proposition 8 in California, though proposition 1 is a small consolation.) Last week we saw states which had been in Republican hands since long before we were born turn blue. The Democrats now dominate both houses, and this combined with Bush’s legislation strengthening the president’s powers means that Obama can enact as much change as he damn well wants to. The question now is whether he does so.

I travelled across the American continent during this past summer and was amazed by the commitment and devotion I saw to the Obama campaign. In Harlem I saw t-shirts being sold with his image next to that of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. In California swimmers braved the cold Pacific to raise funds for his campaign. Obama signs could be seen in the windows of the poorest shacks as well as on the white picket fences of those idyllic suburban houses which represent the American Dream. In cities throughout the country I was approached by Obama campaigners of all colours and social classes hoping to secure my vote; they were universally enthusiastic, genuine in their commitment and happy to talk with me even though I had no vote to give them. One wonders why the left in the UK fail to inspire such dedication in their activists.

Even more striking than that was the utter lack of support for McCain. I saw nothing- no campaigners, no fundraising and literally two window signs, both in Texas. It was therefore never in any doubt in my mind that Obama would win, although I feared to say this before the election. His message resounds with the swathes of America who want to be a liberal country, a country which practises what it preaches in terms of human rights, civil rights and international relations. This liberal majority encompasses the African American and other minority communities, artists and bohemians, LGBT people, greens, social libertarians, college students and most importantly the young. Everyone I know in the US seems to fall into one or more of those categories so I may be a little biased here, but I can’t help but be moved by the passion which this election has stirred in such people. When you see Jesse Jackson at the victory rally with tears streaming down his face it feels a little churlish to go poking holes in Obama’s policies.

Right now we are in a state of flux, and it is uncertain in which direction America will go. This could be a false dawn, similar to the 1997 victory of Tony Blair which promised so much and delivered so little. Or it could a genuine watershed, the point at which America begins to shake off its obsession with God and guns and becomes a true liberal democracy. Not a social democracy (that was never on Obama’s agenda) but at least a place where the ideal of an equal and just society is the point at which political discussions start from, however flawed the implementation of those ideals may be. Once the ideal of social liberalism is firmly established in the USA, space will open up for the left to push the redistributive economic policies which would make society truly equal.

If Obama disappoints, as to an extent he inevitably must do, I hope that the energy and commitment I saw behind his campaign does not trail off into despair and apathy, but instead is focused on holding Obama to account. And if Obama continues to fail to delivery on his election promises, we may see something far more interesting emerge from his disillusioned network of supporters. If the president wont take action, then the people must.

Rumours that Obama is making a guest appearence on the next Q-Tip album are greatly exaggerated.

(Edit: Gary Younge’s article in today’s Guardian is well worth a read.)