I have been pretty clear in my not liking Obama overall. I will say this though, for the first time in 8 years, the prospect of not having Bush and Cheney in the White House feels real. Right now, that is far more overwhelming than Obama’s win to me. He does give a good speech, that’s also a kind of relief, a president that uses English properly!
I am cautiously optimistic about Obama’s foreign policy. If he puts “getting along” as a higher priority than being tough, I will love him. It can go a long way… Some of his comments about Pakistan make me worry a bit, but I think that the change from the neocons will do this country (and almost all others) a world of good. With any luck, he will remember how much trading with other people engenders good feelings.
It is also just now starting to dawn on me how uplifting this could be to people that have traditionally given up on life. He is a great story, there’s no getting around it.
I am still worried about the economics that we will be subjected to in the next 4 years. A lot of what he is saying sounds like trouble. Here’s my request for Obama; please please please keep the rules simple. People and businesses can deal with just about any (reasonable) rules in the game, as long as they don’t vary. I know that legislation will be passed to “fix” the economy. I am inherently distrustful of things like that, but if he knows when to leave well enough alone, I think the downside can be mostly avoided. Do whatever you think you need to do and then stop. Constant fiddling is much more dangerous than anything else, look at FDR for a good history lesson.
There are a couple of obvious downsides to this night. The first I’ll only mention in passing but it needs to be said. Obama is the most likely president to be assassinated that we have ever had. I think that the odds are slim, but they are higher than anyone in recent memory. Not only is his skin color an issue to some, but the absolute frenzy his supporters have been whipped into may have the opposite effect on someone that is disposed to hate him…
The other thing to watch out for is high expectations. Right now, he is promising the world and everything in it. Everyone should be ready for the things that he can’t do, or does and does badly. I do think he’ll have a long honeymoon unless he totally screws something up.
Bush has been so bad for so long. His “legacy” was written all over this election Not only were republicans in general in a bad way, but the voter turnout can be correlated with him as well. It was great to see people so pissed off. Only 2 more months of W, I wonder if I’ll be able to take it…