The election is over and the American people have spoken. Barack Obama is our new president-elect.

 We wish our new president-elect the very best and we pledge our support.

 There is at least one of us on this publication’s editorial board who was around during the administration of the last young, charismatic president with a young family who many have compared president-elect Obama to today.

 That president was John F. Kennedy. The Camelot days of his administration still bring back the special feeling of euphoria that is being felt around Newton County today.

 We hope that the president-elect will have the strength and courage to at times buck the left wing of his own party and be a leader for all people no matter what their political leanings are.

 We realize that the election of Barack Obama will be recorded as a historical event.

 Dr. Martin Luther King said once, that he longed to see the day "that a person is judged not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character".

 We - those on the board who were here - agreed with Dr. King when he made that statement and we all agree with that statement now.

 We don’t want our new president to be judged as a footnote in history, but to be judged by his character. That is how we determine whether he is mentioned in the same breath as Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt or Truman, and not in the same whisper as Van Buren, Hoover or even Carter (though we appreciate Carter’s efforts after his presidency).

 God speed Mr. President-Elect, the weight of our future now rests squarely on your shoulders.