On Oct. 23, 2006, Time Magazine introduced us to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. The publication allowed the face of a first-term U.S. senator to engulf the whole cover with the headline, "Why Barack Obama Could Be the Next President."
Two years and 12 days later, Obama locked up the presidential election in a decisive victory over Republican candidate Sen. John McCain.
He is no longer Sen. Obama. He will be sworn in as 44th president of the United States.
There was little controversy at the polls, and there have been no cries of foul play. Despite the familiarity of the campaign techniques, this election has delivered an electoral result that hasn't been seen in more than a decade.
Obama wasn't named president by a U.S. Supreme Court majority; he walloped his Republican counterpart.
En route to doing so, Obama won crucial victories in Florida, Ohio and Indiana, each of which were pegged as "battleground states" by major national news outlets.
We should all be aware of the electoral importance of the Sunshine State. If our voters are able to properly cast their ballots - we're looking at you, Palm Beach - then the winner of the state is rewarded with 10 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to become president.
Florida had voted Republican in 11 of the 14 elections before 2008, but Obama was able to eke out a slim victory.
For two years, since his face showed up on the cover of Time, America has been submerged in Obama exposure.
We have heard his story, which has often been equated to the American Dream, and we have been fed tales of his dedication to both America's impoverished and its working class.
We have been subjected to the bad and the cloudy, too. Apparently, the cliché that all publicity is good publicity holds true for our president-elect.
It now seems that no amount of anti-Obama sentiment, whether spewed by Joe the Plumber or Sen. Hillary Clinton's PUMAs, could have derailed what we have been calling the Obama train.
Don't fret, McCain fans. The election may not have turned out how you wanted, but there is still some comfort to be had in McCain's losing effort.
Obama is entering the Oval Office in the midst of terrible economic circumstances, a war on terror that won't seem to end and a nation emerging as powerful enough to rival the longtime hegemony of the U.S.
Obama does not have years of D.C. politics under his belt like McCain, so stumbles are likely on the way, but do not take pride in a faulty piece of Obama-generated tax or foreign policy legislation. Instead, be proud that McCain will not have to be the Hector to the economy's Achilles. McCain's war hero status will long outshine his political defeat, which will preserve the reputation of a man who commands the nation's respect. For that, conservative voters should be happy.
The rest of us should be watchful of our new president. Obama has begun his honeymoon with the U.S., but it will only last for so long. The nation's infatuation will quickly wear off.
Congress and the public offer newly elected presidents a very small window of opportunity to ride the coattails of electoral success before they start to clamp down on a new commander in chief.
Obama's legacy could end as quickly as it began when Time featured him on its cover. The problem for Obama is that a fall as sudden as his rise would leave him with half of his term as president to wallow in the contempt of a disappointed public.
