As the electorate has proven, most Americans cannot see beyond the end of their nose. President-elect Obama has promised something to everyone (except the "5%" crowd) including tax breaks to 95% of Americans, more funds for education, a stronger troop and financial commitment to winning in Afghanistan, mortgage relief, banking relief, credit relief, national health care and more. To offset those costs he will end the war in Iraq, eliminate government agencies that are wasteful and raise taxes on the top 5% of earners in America. He hopes to achieve all of this during an economic recession. The public sentiment was best expressed by a 20-year old voter quoted in the NY Times as saying, "I have great expectations."
The Obama camp has already been stating that they won't make the same mistakes that Bill Clinton did during the first years of his electoral victory when he spent too much political capital on his push for "Don't ask, don't tell," and subsequent failure to institutionalize national health care - both of which many pundits believe promulgated the Republican Revolution of 1994. But, another woman was recorded on public radio yesterday saying, "Obama is going to help me pay my mortgage, so I'm going to help him out today." How can Barack move cautiously forward by pursuing a central ground so as not to alienate the moderate vote which propelled him to victory while also pursuing the enactment of his plethora of campaign promises? Answer: he cannot do both.
The electorate easily forgave his duplicitous promise to accept federal financing which he subsequently denied and spent more money on a presidential campaign than the last four Republican presidential candidates combined. But, they will hold him more accountable for his promises that directly affect their self-interests - namely economic and protection against terrorism. He will have to choose one path and claim or suffer the consequences. Unfortunately for Obama, this time he will not be able to talk and smile his way out of a poor decision.
3 comments:
Three points:
1. In the recent past and maybe this time as well it seems that elections never seem to unite us. It just seems to make the winning side happy and the losing side mad which divides us even more. I think John McCain gave one of the best speeches that in memory last night. It addresses this point and I think it is important for everyone to read/hear it.
2. I find it very interesting that three states (AZ, CA & FL) all had enough votes to essentially ban same sex marriage. I think it is telling that although this may be a conservative issue, it is neither red or blue.
3. Seeing Jesse Jackson crying made me wonder. Is he crying tears of joy for the landmark event or tears of self pitty thinking it should have been him up there. Regardless, he goes back to shaking down corporations and relative obscurity while Al Sharpton heads to Dancing With The Stars. Lets hope they are finally on 14:59 and counting.
notice that during his victory speech, obama was already talking himself down from the ivory tower he has been climbing ever since the start of the campaign. also, he already hinted at his next term as president. those of the obama mania mindset will slowly come back down to earth once they realize it will be business as usual in washington.
"meet the new boss, same as the old boss"
I congratulate Senator or rather now President-Elect Obama on his victory to the White House and wish him all the best. Undoubtedly Obama will face immiscible challenges in his first 100 days let alone his first year. His setup for failure I have to disagree with. He will however struggle to mend the political divide and more likely than not will not be able to heal all wounds. Simply put it, the American Political System is and always has been far too divisive. Every president since Teddy Roosevelt has promised to close the divide and to unite the people but of course the country has remained as divided as ever. Obama is no different in claiming the same promises.
The test will be on whether he himself can actually accomplish that? Obama have some things going for him. Recent polls show Obama with a (and this is an average) 62% approval rating already; the highest of any since Bill Clinton. It will probably stay high before his inauguration in January. Despite the many conservatives grumbling, most people still hold the office of President in high regard and many have slowly decided to try and accept him.
First of course we will have to see how fast Obama sets up his administration. Every political pundit agrees that already, one of Clinton’s first downfalls was being unable to establish his cabinet as quickly as possible. That obviously cost him some points. I am also sorry to hear how still to this day conservatives still call him a socialist. He isn’t and that’s the whole point. If Obama is smart, as so far he has proven that, he will continue to move more toward the center hiring moderates to guide him on the proper way to handle to current economic crisis. Free market economics do work. With out free markets, countries like China and India would not be anywhere close to what they are today. The idea however that banks and major corporations can self regulate, an idea pushed by Reagan, Greenspan, and Bush, is not only laughable, it’s foolish. That’s like giving a thirteen year old daughter a credit card and expecting her to spend with it wisely. You’ll be surprised to see how fast she can rack up $3000 dollars worth in credit card debt.
The big thing also going for Obama is that he is a fast learner. When he first announced his candidacy, I myself was a tad bit worried. His agenda was very left wing, far from the policies of President Bush and his neo-conservative ideology. It was a swing this country could not afford. However, as time marches on, Obama has begun to move more and more toward the center. An example of that was when Obama discussed abortions. Obama stated, if elected he would sign the “Freedom of Choice Act” essentially overriding every abortion law in every state. He has since change his tone now stating he would approve late term abortion bans (except in extreme cases) and accept some form of parental notification for minors. That alone could please both the left, and make the right grudgingly accept. He first stated he would remove all troops from Iraq if elected. He now says he will remove them only if conditions are right, and now recognizes the importance of Afghanistan on the “War Against Terror.”
Obama proves the political scene is changing. Predominantly red states like Virginia and Indiana voted for Obama and it still proves that this country is always looking for the perfect center. Obama’s halo will tarnish either sooner or later. One cannot survive politics without getting his or her hands dirty as already proven by Obama’s reneging on public campaign finance (which of course worked to his benefit). Particularly in a recession and with a budget deep in the red, thank you Mr. Bush, Obama will have a tough sell to Congress. This may work to his benefit though in proving that the only way to settle the rapidly rising debt will be to solve the Medicare and Social Security problems, something most politicians have avoided. Clinton had to drop many of his promises in his 8 years in office, including raising taxes and yet even after surviving impeachment, still left The Presidency with a 60% approval rating. Also, might I add, Clinton raised taxes and yet still saw one of the biggest (technological) economic booms in some time. Obama’s glory will fall but it’s still too early to judge is capabilities as President.
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