It’s been nearly a month since the election, and I have finally decided to give my opinion on it. Obviously I am personally disappointed by the outcome. I really wanted John McCain to win. And not just because he had an ‘R’ next to his name, but because he is a man of great character. Unlike many other conservatives, I believe he was the best candidate for the Republicans. Where they disdain him for his independent, mavericky, spirit, I applaud him for taking on his own political party and being his own man. Sadly, John McCain was too old, and the Republican brand too damaged, for him to come out on top. Against a man that could have been his son, he looked tired. However, for a man in his seventies he sure has a ton of energy. He campaigned like a man half his age. However he missed his chance to shake up the race when he voted with Barack Obama for the bailout. Had he voted differently, the race may have changed. But probably not, because Bush has really screwed things up for the GOP.
With the Republican brand damaged, a new group of younger leadership will emerge. But for now, the Democrats control both houses of Congress and, come January 20th, the White House. There is no doubt the this situation will shift our policies to the left, but hopefully Barack Obama, suppossedly a pragmatic leader, will see that too hard a shift to the left will be met with strong backlash. I am truley proud that a black man has risen to the Presidency, I just wish that man was a black man who didn’t worship at the altar of the far-left. Reverend Jerimiah Wright, Willaim Ayers, and other shady characters that Obama alligned himself with over the years cast a bad light of the character of the President-elect. It seems that he alligned himself with these people because they would help him get somewhere in politics, not because he agrees wholeheartedly with them. But we will have to wait and see.
As someone who aspires to the Presidency myself someday, I respect Barack Obama’s political genius. He motivated more new voters than ever before and received the most votes of any Presidential candidate ever. That is quite an achievement. Still, I strongly disagree with his policies.
Whether he will go far-left or center-left is still unclear, but we can look to his voting record and his cabinet choices for a window to the future. In the senate, he had the most liberal voting record one year, and very liberal ratings the other years. If he is a moderate, he has certainly masked it pretty darn well. In his campaign however, he acted fairly moderate. Nothing too liberal about the word "change." That’s really all his campaign was anyway, right? As for his cabinet appointments, I will have more to say on that later. But he is not surrounding himself with kooks. A lot are Clintonistas, including Hillary herself, so I guess "change" really is just a word. But still, no one far-left. But still definetly left.
The real deciding factor is if Nancy Pelosi gets all her far-left ideas put into practice, or if Barack Obama realizes she is a crazy bitch and should be ignored. Let’s hope for the latter. Just keep in mind that politics is a pendulum, and soon (perhaps in 2010) Republicans will actually gain seats in the House and Senate.
President-elect Barack Obama faces one of the greatest challenges of any Chief-Executive in our history. Every day you turn on the TV to CNN or Fox News, and it seems another sector of the economy is in trouble. Politicians in Washington will look to Barack Obama for leadership. Right now, as Americans, we should support the President-elect. He deserves at least a few weeks in office before we pass major judgement on him. And when that time comes, I will be here on this blog to give my thoughts.
"The reason I’m here tonight is because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I," he told the boisterous crowd.