Voters' Views: Philip Craig Leiter

Barack Obama has been elected the first black president of the United States.

Here Republican and Democratic voters from across the US reflect on the results and look to the future.

Philip Craig LeiterStudent | Republican

Our country has turned its back on capitalism and decided on socialism

Age: 18 Lives: Minneapolis, Minnesota Occupation: Student Last election voted: Too young to vote In 10 words or fewer: Realist, cosmopolitan, progressive, content Voters' Views: main page

I believe that liberty itself is threatened. With Obama in office, we will no longer be seen as a superpower.

I feel that my identity as a United States citizen is lost. We use to stand for something. We use to stand for a capitalist economy, freedom and liberty. Our country, suffering from economic woes has turned its back on capitalism and decided on socialism.

I am staying in college as long as I can. I'm going to wait out Obama's tax plans by remaining a student. With no break for our big businesses to compete in the global market, they will no longer be able to hire people. In fact, our government might have to pay the companies to keep their employs.

When I think about our government paying businesses, it reminds me of something I learned in a comparative government class. It reminds me of China and state-owned enterprises.

We will know if we have made the right decision after the coming year.

God Bless America."

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Your messages:

When Obama won the only thing I could do was shake my head. The Obama victory made me think of how uninformed voters do more harm than good. During this election I felt that people were voting for Obama for three main reasons. One being he is half black, which got a lot of the African-American community to vote for him along with some of the white community to in fear of being considered a racist. Secondly, he is a really good talker, like a lobbyist. He is able to twist and turn questions without really giving an answer. And lastly, many people were just angry at the Republicans for what has happened during the years with Bush as our President. None of these mean that Obama is fit to be our next president.
Paul Koski, Minneapolis, Minnesota

You wrote: "I am staying in college as long as I can. I'm going to wait out Obama's tax plans by remaining a student." By all means, get a good education. Look on your college years as your best opportunity to prepare for the real world. Then go out into that real world and use your talents to make a difference. Country First. Citizenship is more than just voting and paying taxes. Imagine the greatest thing you could ever do and do it! If anyone is going to save the world, it's not Obama, and it wouldn't have been McCain either; it's you, it's me, and a lot of other men and women working hard to make it better. Good luck to you!
Tony Bielecki, Andover, Massachusetts USA

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The readers' panel has been selected from as wide a cross-section of people as possible and may not be representative of wider US public opinion.

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