So the “other guy” won. Jim and I talked about the election results and he made some great predictions of which I'll summarize:
The economy is in a slump, consumer confidence is down, the war in Iraq is dragging, Americans are generally unhappy with the status quo. One of two things will happen:
1) Obama will be the savior of the country. His plans will work flawlessly, he’ll get reelected as things steadily move towards the better and at the end of 8 years will walk out of office in glory for the marvelous job he did fixing many of our problems. This of course isn’t that challenging to do since we’re so low as is; nearly anything is better than where we’re at. But still, he’ll get full credit and infamy for taking us in the right direction.
2) At the end of four years things won’t be any better. Obama will claim that Bush put us so deep in a hole it wasn’t realistic that he could fix it in four years. It’s not his fault things aren’t better. American’s will nod and say “yes, things were bad, you’ve only had four years…” and his reelection campaign will head on a platform of “I’ve stabilized us, the bleeding is done, we’re on the path to healing”. No one will blame him for not doing squat.
I have a lot of hope that the confidence my fellow Americans have is founded and that things will get better. I honestly don’t buy that it’ll be as amazing as he touts (or that the American people believe) but I also think it can’t get that much worse. I think that my religion might deepen as a result of all the praying I’ll be doing – that he doesn’t get assassinated, that pulling out of Iraq pre-maturely won’t lead to another terrorist attack, that my hard earned money isn’t spread around to those who don’t deserve it, etc.
I hope #1 happens. I want to see some of this [positive] change he’s been talking about. And if it does, and we’re on the right path, I’ll vote for him in 2012.
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19 comments:
I'm ecstatic, and folks at work today are all so excited.
My projection is that things will probably get worse before they get better, that there will be failed policies and things that go wrong, but that these failures will make for more successful outcomes in the long run. He's clearly said that he can't do it himself, and that we have to work together, and that's what I'm witnessing people holding on to. THAT is the spirit that founded this country, and it's a spirit that I think very few people have felt in a long time.
For what it's worth, I think the US' level of respect in the internationally community has probably shot up...
I agree that the international communities opinion of the Us has improved. Part of the reason I say this is that as soon as Obama was elected, some of my international friends sent me comments about it.
I also must say that I have no way to predict what is to come, no one does. I do however hope that positive changes occur and that the record number of voters that voted in this election continue to vote in future elections.
I have a few thoughts to share:
there is a lot of room for hope and opportunity for success.
However he has already set the stage for Number 2 in his acceptance speech last night (something along the lines of "it may not happen in the first couple years...or even the first term")
Of course I appreciate the historical value of electing Barack.
In general, Bush let me down, which means Obama has the potential to impress me.
Although I have some reservations of single party control of the legislative and executive branches (which also heavily influences the judicial branch)...let's face it, he has a max of 8 years, and given my relative youth, I have plenty of time to recover if he is not a success. I do not believe there will be long term detrimental effects of his presidency. If he is a success...(by who's standards...well, mine, cuz I'm writing this), then I haven't lost anything, and I am pleased! In the short term it may influence some of my behaviors but in the long term it will not affect me one way or the other who is president.
Overall I remain positive and hopeful.
P.S. Personally, I believe most of the fixes required for the economy cannot be fixed by the government (only patched). It requires a collective personal decision. And I don't see the majority of people taking responsibility for their actions and future and living anywhere close to their means anytime soon.
You totally summed up the conversation my husband and I had this morning as we took a big sigh and accepted it. I'm not Obama's biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination, but that doesn't mean that I don't hope that he can make some great changes in our economy and with other issues. So at the end of four years, I'll either be saying "Told you so" or "Okay, I was wrong."
Kara (friend of Sarah W.)
Kathy, your "PS" amuses me with the irony!
I agree with Kathy's PS!
I was super happy when I woke up this morning. I'll agree that your first statement is probably accurate, he'll get the credit even if some of it wasn't that "great", but hey, Bill got the credit 8 years ago too. So I guess it just sucks to be a crappy president and it's great to be the guy that follows him.
Your second statement is just realistic. How can one man fix 8 years of Bush in 4 years? :P
OK, i've said it before (literally said it, not blogged it) and i'll say it here - bush wasn't that bad. If he was that bad he wouldnt' have gotten RE-elected. Obama has a right and an accuracy to be critical of the last four years when things haven't been good (i totally agree), but did you hear any complaining in 2004? not nearly as loud as this. again, if it was that bad he wouldn't have been re-elected. Therefore i think its really 4 years of bush we're all "dealing with", not 8 like the campaigns boast.
I will disagree on Bush - I thought he sucked 4 years ago, too. The trouble was that A) people had only lived through a few years before the 2004 election started and therefore did not realize the full extent of the damage, and B) the democrats couldn't find anyone decent enough to run against him so those who were undecided probably went with the default, or incumbent.
Did I push a hot button? I was just poking fun...sheesh. I didn't vote for Bush the first OR second time, I'm sticking to 8. :P
Senator McCain was not George Bush either. I really believed he would do what he said he would and repair the last 4 years with dignity and honor. He just did not communicate it as well as he could have. I was so proud of him and his speech after the election. He called the Senator from Illinois "My President" I am proud of the way he handled the crowd too! It showed a lot of class on his part. I wonder what the chances are that Governor Palin may become Senator Palin? It is a possibility. Senator Stevens is now a convicted felon and may have to step down. There would have to be an election to replace the Senator if indeed he actually won the Senate race and was forced to step down. I think she would win that seat hands down. Wouldn't that be something. McCain and Palin working together in the Senate... Ok,ok, ladies just my opinion.....
Oh No...! I just heard on the radio John Kerry may be the Secretary of State....? Oh brother here we go.......
I'm nervous. I don't like this at all. I'm not sure I would have been much happier with McCain, but he would have at least eased my nerves a bit.
I'm worried about our Constitution. While I voted for Bush twice, I really don't like that he's just chosen to ignore parts of it. Obama is just as bad, if not worse. The difference is that he's picking out different parts of the document to ignore.
I hope someday the country realizes that we need to start putting people in government that obey the Constitution 100% of the time.
I'm gonna sound like a whiny baby for a second here - if the "international community" is willing to instantly change their opinion of this entire country based on the election of one man, they can have him for themselves for all I care. After all, didn't Mr. Obama call himself a "global citizen" or something to that effect?
In response to Trey, I say the constitution has already been shot to hell. I'd rather see it skirted around in the name of public health, safety, and well-being than the way it's been skirted around by the current administration.
Regarding Sarah Palin as a senator - I hope that if that does happen, she doesn't get any farther than that. I read a quote somewhere that went something like, "If there are 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, Sarah Palin is single-handedly repaning it."
Thanks for the welcome, Karen ;) Now I may join in your little bi-partisan forum.
I think, honestly, it will be option 1.5. He's not some "messiah" -- I'm a HUGE fan of his, but I don't think that. He's not going to magically fix everything and anyone who voted for him who thinks that doesn't know much about politics ;)
What he IS is incredibly calm and incredibly intelligent. I think he will put together a good cabinet with some of his current "outsider" campaign staff, some Clinton folk who've dealt with the economy before, and possibly some republicans if they'll accept. He has placed a rule that no one who is a lobbyist or has been a lobbyist within 5 years (or something like that) is allowed to be in his cabinet.
I think it will be slow, but that his ideas will work. While I know he's been painted as an "extremist liberal," I've heard several independent political scholars say his policies are really more centrist. (I don't think voting records of senators are really all that telling... for any candidate.) It's not surprising, it's typical campaign rhetoric to always paint an opponent as "too liberal" or vise-versa.
He's one of the first candidates I've seen that has a real plan. It's interconnected and well thought-out. I mean, enough to put it in a 200 page book. I think having a good plan is the first part of being a good leader.
And, just a silly opinion from an anti-war chick, I think if we can get out of iraq it will strengthen our national security... it will allow us to rebuild after being spread so thin. Our enemies know we're thin. I'm not sure I believe it will go smoothly, but I hope it happens somewhat expediently. Our UN agreement is expiring there at the end of this year, and something needs to get resolved.
I think Bush, while I was not a fan, just got handed a lot of crappy situations and didn't handle them all that well. I will probably always believe Iraq was a mistake. But mostly I fault his associations (Cheney, Rove, other family-type connections) than I fault him. He was just kind of in the middle of a quagmire. I like Obama's lack of deep connections with Washington.
Karen, I liked what you said earlier about people voting for him just because he's Black. Because I hate it when people vote for candidates for some dumb reason. ("I'm voting for the woman!") BUT I do think, especially after Tues. night, that a little inspiration goes a looooong way. If he inspires people to listen to him, that will be a good thing. I know I feel inspired. I'd love to see two terms, but we'll just have to see how it goes. :) But I'm not voting for Sarah Palin. Ever.
I am sorry ladies, but I believe with time, Mrs Palin would make a very good President some day. Again, I am old school here, but just about all of her values match up with me. I admit I am a Christian Conservitave. God bless her and her family. I pray she becomes Senator. I believe she would never vote that she was 'present' on any issue, and I believe she will really balance out the left sided liberal Senate we have now. I would love to see her go up against Hillary on the Senate floor. This country needs checks and balances. I believe Mr. Obama will be writing the checks, and Sarah Palin and John McCain will provide the balances.
That's all fine, I respect anyone who believes she's actually qualified. And I do understand why social conservatives feel a connection with her. I, personally, believe there are so many women on both sides of the aisle who have more integrity and grace that I would like to see representing my sex on the national stage. However, I'm simply responding to this comment b/c I feel the need to point out that voting "present" in IL means you are there for the voting of a bill but you have a problem with part of it. I'm weary of that criticism, sigh. :)
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