| Nov. 5th, 2008 @ 09:38 am Hope |
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This is going to sound cliche, but I now have hope for this country. I don't think Obama is the solution to all of our problems. I don't expect him to do everything he promised. But what I do know is that I can never count him out. When I first heard him speak four years ago, I thought to myself "This is a guy who could be president". At the time, I was thinking maybe 12 to 16 years down the road, 8 at the earliest. When he announced his candidacy 2 years ago, I was thinking "No! It's too soon. The American people won't accept you yet". In the beginning, I was actually leaning toward Hillary for the main reason that I didn't think Obama could win. But the odds have been stacked against him his whole life, and he's beaten them every time. His election to the presidency gave me one more big reason not to doubt what he can do.
The road ahead of him is unenviable. With the financial crisis, an unpopular war, a broken healthcare system, rising energy costs, an endangered Social Security system, a failing education system, global warming, the deterioration of our standing in the world, and the constant threat of terrorism, the problems facing this country are daunting. I believe we have the best man for the job. He doesn't get rattled and uses his mind rather than his gut, and he relies on the best and brightest to advise him. Through his campaign, he's turned bitter rivals into allies. I see no reason why he can't do that as president, too. I believe he can do that on an international level as well. The perception of America and Americans changed overnight in the eyes of many around the world. It couldn't get much worse, but it could get a whole lot better. We need that desperately.
But we still have to remember that 55 million people voted against him, and there are countless others that also were against him but didn't or couldn't vote. He will face criticism from day one. But unlike Bush before him, I don't believe he will ignore those who are against him and in Bush's case, even those who are for him. Obama will have a hard time winning over his critics, and for some, it will never happen no matter what he does. I think the first step to alleviating skeptic's fears is not what he does, but what he doesn't do. He will not don a turban and invite terrorists into our country. He will not increase taxes on the majority of Americans and small businesses and give that money to people who are unwilling to work. He will not fill his cabinet with all African-Americans including Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan. He will not reveal that he is actually not a U.S. citizen. He will not take away everyone's guns. He will not make abortions as common as births. A great deal of his criticism was based on misconceptions or outright lies, so those can be put to rest for most people once they see what he does not do.
As usual, I am cautiously optimistic, but I am more hopeful than fearful now. My greatest fear is for his safety. The worst thing that could happen now is that all the hope he has built up will be crushed by some lunatic. But even if that happens, I still think America will continue on the path toward a new attitude that's been a long time coming, and we can thank Barack Obama and his supporters for awakening this societal movement. |
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