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President Obama will be a president not of race, but of the generation.  Looking at the media blitz from websites to TV, one of most noticeable focus is Obama's "coolness."  But you have to examine the features that people have focused on in discussing Obama's situation:

• The infamous t-shirt-less scene in Hawaii during his vacation.
• Playing basketball and being a workout fanatic.
• Smoking.
• His past history with marijuana.
• His age/youth (47).
• His sense of humility and intelligence when speaking as well as his humor.
• The new presidential Cadillac
  
• The new Whitehouse.gov's sense of "openness."
• How the city of Obama in Japan is celebrating his term.
• His use of technologies like the iPod and Blackberry.
• Running a blog.
• His use of social media before and after the election (namely his facebook profile page and his youtube channel where he is providing the State of the Union address)
• How many teenagers are connecting/relating to him as being an inspiration (there were a fair number of posts yesterday on facebook welcoming him).

These attributes and highlights clearly portray Obama as the "cool" president that many of the country's youths can respect.  You really get a sense of excitement and hope with the new president that I haven't seen nor felt in a while.  For myself, I've been quite content and eager to see what will happen in terms of policy.

Of course, you have the naysayers as well.  But I've noticed the supporters of McCain and the Republicans at the moment are older generations.  But that's understandable because older people tend to earn higher incomes and are more worried about increasing taxes.

Despite this, it's clear that everyone is awaiting the next move of the president.  Already, we've heard that Gitmo's trials have been shut down for review.  Also, Bush's prior orders have been halted for review.  Right now, it's surreal and seems almost like a Hollywood movie.

Looking to my other country, Japan, I've already seen welcome arms by the current Prime Minister Aso (gotta love the name).  It'll be interesting to see where Obama's policies and Japan's take the next 4 years.

At any rate, it's hard not to feel excited somewhat.  I actually feel quite positive right now.  Maybe this year will be a good one for many...