Yes the campaign is over. The red states and the incumbent President, George W Bush, have prevailed. But, make no mistake, this is no mandate for the republican leader, who claims to be a unifier but has proven otherwise. I am a moderate Republican who was (is) alarmed by the inability of the President to stake a centrist and even handed approach, and seems so captive of the evangelical right, corporate interests and those of the well heeled and upper echelons of our social structure. I will never forget how he sidelined and marginalized Colin Powell for the conservative “warlords” – who have never proven their valor in battle but are willing to send the sons and daughters of the poor and lower middle class to die, without adequate armor and equipment.

Our monumental challenges still remain: a highly polarized civic body politic; massive national debt and a literally empty treasury; a middle class anxious and unsure of its future and that of their children; a nation where a sizeable number of our citizens are without any (not even inadequate) health care; and a minority population full of hope and willing to work resiliently to enjoy the American dream, but also hopeful for aid for their donor societies which face formidable economic and social challenges, emanating from widespread globalization and corporatization - and I could go on, and on. What this country now needs is transformative and inclusive national leadership and herein lays the challenge for the man who would be King...

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