Congratulations fellow Comrades! We have done it! We have spoken! We have turned our state blue! We have elected a true progressive to the presidency. We have elected a black man, Virginia elected a black man... the state of Jefferson Davis! Wow, just amazing.
We have done our part. Now Obama must deliver.
He must not be another Bill Clinton. He must not govern from the center-right. This is not a center-right country, not anymore. This is a moderate, liberal leaning country, whether our citizens would like to admit that or not.
He must govern from the left, and move our country in that way dramatically.
Though, he must include some republicans in this process. I think he would be wise to choose Dick Lugar as the Secretary of State, and Chuck Hagel as the U.N. ambassador.
He must above all, do a great job. He must be like FDR. I want to be able to speak proudly of the social achievements that BHO was able to accomplish.
___
And, conservatives, really, it isn't going to be as awful as you fear. And, you can call us stupid all you want, but really, after the last eight years, did you really expect a different result?
Did you really expect us stupid Americans to be tricked again? Bush said it best "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice... you ain't gonna fool me again"
Call us stupid all you want. Please. Turn our political discourse uglier. Say that your world is over, threaten to move to... what Iran? You'd like it there, war-hawks, religious fanatics, ultra-nationalism.
I hope we liberals weren't as nasty about our loss four years ago. I am damn glad we lost four years ago. I am still upset about losing eight years ago.
Honestly. I promise you that the world will not be destroyed. Your silly end-times and other fairy tails won't happen. Obama is not the Antichrist. Because such a thing doesn't exist, you silly people. Israel won't be destroyed. I know conservatives love Israel because you need it for your apocalypse, so Jesus can come back and kill all the jews, or whatever.
Now, with Obama, we can avoid an actual apocalypse, it's called climate change. It's real, there is evidence, evidence that doesn't come from a book written two thousand years ago. It has more validation than Santa Claus.
I promise you all, we will be fine. Obama is not a socialist.
I would like to thank those of you who kept me going throughout this election:
Comrade Sarah Goth, Alex Abbott, Ian Shepherd, Stephen Barker, Jon Paul, Cameron Schimmel, V.I. Fritz, Faith Schooler, Jane Collins, and... well, I'm sure I'm forgetting a few of you, I'm sorry... also, to Matt Rogers, who is, like many conservatives, a very good guy, and one of the smartest people I have ever met. I hope that they don't view eight years of Obama as we liberals view the last eight years. That they are able to find some common ground. And that America changes in such a fundamentally positive way that they must admit success.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I hope he succeeds. I really do. My only fear is that, with a liberal House and Senate behind him, he might feel he has a blank check to engage in widespread economic and social experimentation...like what we saw with FDR...or worse.
Sorry for all the doom and gloom ;)
Now I need to get to work writing my blog's post-election analysis...
I don't believe that Obama has a blank check. The House was much closer than analysts expected...and McCain still won at least 47-48% of the popular vote...the same basic percentages won by Kerry, and we remember how unpopular Bush has been in his second term. This country will turn on Obama if he isn't careful. However, you are right that Obama needs to be better than Bill Clinton. This is going to be a liberal administration, no doubt about it. However, I am confident in Obama's abilities to overcome resistance from conservatives. I do believe he will be able to reach out to moderates successfully. If Bush had any kind of a mandate, any kind of political capital in 2004, Obama has that now. However, Obama knows what he's doing...more than I can say for his predecessor.
Thanks for the shout-out, Mark. You helped me over the past several weeks more than you can imagine, and for that I owe you thanks.
Finally, I am soooo happy that we turned Indiana blue. :)
I have to disagree Alex.
The Bush administration claimed a mandate in 2004. Bush beat Kerry by 50.3% to 48.3%. Barely over 50% of the vote. Electoral votes? 286 to 251. And they claimed a mandate.
Also, Bush lost his first election. Historically, the incumbent always increases their victory margin.
Then, in 2006, the American people spoke for the first time, giving the democrats a majority in both houses of Congress.
Rarely does one party see increases in two consecutive elections, and yet, in 2008, the majority grew.
And, now, Obama beat McCain 52% to 46%. Almost eight million votes.
Electoral votes? 364 to 173 (that is giving Missouri to McCain).
And, victories in such stalwart Republican states like Indiana, Virginia, and North Carolina sends a clear signal. This is not a conservative nation. No longer.
I believe Obama has the same blank check that FDR had in his first term. If he does well, his reelection should make this years "landslide" look like the 2000 election. And, like the 30s, there should be more democratic waves, increasing the majorities in both houses even more.
Mark, I really do hope that you are correct.
I pointed out the Bush analogy to show that mandates can often fall apart rather quickly.
However, I'll feel a lot better about this if you're right, and America really isn't a conservative nation any longer. I don't know if this is true, though. I know we are changing, but I cannot predict our speed.
Post a Comment