Shortt take: President-elect Obama

I'm in the studio where Morning Ireland is broadcasting from on this historic morning. We're a block from Lafayette Park, which is in front of the White House.

You can hear the whoops and cheers of the crowds who have gathered to celebrate the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

Cars are honking their horns to the tune of 'Yes-We-Can.' People are skipping and waving Obama posters and tee-shirts in the air.

Nothing like this has ever been seen before. This is Washington DC. Town of bad suits, white shirts and dull ties and that's just the Democrats. The political class is throwing a party the like of which has never been seen before.

While walking down to the studio, people were wandering through the streets, calling out 'Obama' and giving each other the 'high-five.'

This is a special moment. Senator Obama's speech was inspirational, even though I've heard parts of it many times before.

It combined references to the civil rights struggle and Abraham Lincoln. He spoke of 'new spirit of patriotism'. Touching on a theme that he first articulated in his famous speech to the Democratic National Convention in 2004, he said America has never been a collection of individuals or Red States and Blue states but the United States of America.

The US is about to embark on a fantastic journey.

It's true, the economy is tanking. The distrust and racial undertones that characterised parts of the campaign aren't about to change overnight.

The healthcare system here has defeated well-intentioned past Administrations. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan present thorny problems, difficult to resolve.

It's inevitable that some of the euphoria we are now seeing will wear thin when it becomes apparent that these problems are not about to go away. But what an interesting thing it will be to see how an Obama Administration will work its way through these realities.

The Obama campaign has been woven with poetry but has also been grounded in the reality of brass tack politics. The application of shoe leather get-out-the-vote operations combined with 21st century technology. It will be fascinating to see what this band of enthusiastic volunteers will do now that Obama has been elected.

The crowds have gone home now and we're still on the air. The world is waking up to a new morning in America, with President-elect Obama.