Well, we did it. I believe a collective sigh of relief is in order. Barack Obama is still the president of the United States. The American people made the right choice once again, and now we can all go back to our lives without worrying about some Republican Party honcho destroying what progress has been made during the past four years.

I’d like to congratulate all of the Obama supporters on this victory. It’s a great day for America and, therefore, the world. I’d also like to extend my sympathies to the Romney camp. You guys gave it your all and ran a hell of a campaign. But I guess the best man won.

As the voting results first started coming in, I was seriously worried. It looked like Romney had a very good chance of taking the election. I followed the results closely, and when Ohio started reporting, it looked like Romney was going to take it as well. Then the realization that he was going to win actually started to sink in. This is impossible, I thought. How could Ohio do this to me? What more could I have done? I voted absentee, and they probably won’t count that. God damn it! I was distraught and filled with fear and loathing.

But then it happened. Romney lost momentum. He lost Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Virginia — his window for victory was closing. He would need a miracle to win; too bad God doesn’t make house calls. After the west coast states called it in, they reported that Ohio went to the incumbent, giving him the electoral votes needed to win, and they projected that Barack Obama was and still is the commander in chief.

I was ecstatic on all levels. I had just seen this guy in Mentor this past Saturday, and now the mission was accomplished. I was waiting forever for Obama to deliver his victory speech when the network switched over to Romney’s concession speech. He was a graceful loser. I was happy the guy got destroyed, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel sorry for him. I hoped maybe that he might get Florida so that the beating wouldn’t be so severe, but the country wasn’t having it, which is fine with me. I watched Romney make his final lie as he congratulated the president and wished him well.

Obama’s speech was powerful and instilled a belief in me that the next four years will be much different than the past four — that he’s actually going to get things done and work with the stagnant Congress in a bipartisan manner to make the changes that America needs. It won’t be easy, he said, but “the best is yet to come.”

I believe in Obama, and though second terms are notoriously known to be terrible for presidents, I think that he can actually make a difference. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and America couldn’t have been fixed in a single term. I think most Americans grasp this and have handed the keys back to him to finish what he’s started.