Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Once You Go Barack, You'll Never Go Back!

Remember back in 2004, when Bush won the election with 51% of the popular vote, and the Republicans declared it a landslide of historical proportions representing a mandate not only from the American voters, but from the Lord God Himself?

Well, it's official. Barack Obama is our president elect with 349 electoral votes and 52% of the popular vote. So apparently God decided to vote Democrat this year.

Obama delivered a truly inspirational speech upon winning the election, which made me realize how long it's been since we've had someone in the White House who can speak in public. Or, you know, read.

Obama's speech was far more unifying than anything I've heard from Democrats or Republicans in the last 30 years. Seriously, it was stirring and moving and eloquent. If you managed to sit through it without getting just a little choked up and hopeful for the future, then all I can say is thanks for reading my blog, Vice President Cheney.

So can Obama live up to the hype? Admittedly, that bar has been set pretty low over the past few decades. And the man is inheriting a massive shit sandwich, what with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention our limping economy. Despite altruistic aspirations of reaching across the aisle, many players on both sides remain too entrenched in partisan politics to give a damn about the welfare of our country.

There have been a lot of naysayers lately who have been sounding the death knell for the U.S. They claim we're circling the drain, that we're an empire in decline. Frankly, I'm a little more optimistic than that. I figure if this nation can survive a Civil War, a Great Depression, and two world wars, it can recover from eight years of Bush!

A lot of Republicans are blaming McCain for losing the election. And, admittedly, his campaign was disorganized and, at times, baffling. But the fault doesn't lie with McCain, but with Bush and his administration. The last time the Republicans suffered a disgraceful presidency was Nixon in the 1970s. Many thought the party would never recover, but Reagan successfully married the GOP to the conservative Christian right in the 1980s and reinvented the Republicans as the moral backbone of the U.S.

(An unfortunate side effect of this was that the words "Democrat", "liberal", and "evil" all became synonymous in the conservative lexicon. Because once you decide that your party is the embodiment of God's will on earth, it's only natural to view the other as a manifestation of Satan.)

But the point is, the American people wanted a change. Obama earmarked change as the keystone of his campaign early on, and successfully painted McCain and the Republicans as "more of the same." McCain and his team jumped on the change bandwagon as well, but it was too little too late. No matter how hard he and Palin tried to paint themselves as mavericks, the voters just didn't buy it. Obama's victory isn't an indictment of the Republicans, but of the political stagnation they represent.

Obama promised to change things for the better, and 52% of American voters believed him. Including me. I'm not used to feeling optimistic. It's kind of scary.

Make us proud again, Barack!

5 comments:

Sylvana said...

We are SO LUCKY to have Barack, especially at this time in our history. His greatness is apparent in the way that he has come forward unscathed, against all odds, to become the undeniable winner of the election. And the calm that we have experienced. It's weird.

I know that all these "experts" have statistics already plotted out to show what his plans will produce, but I think that they will be surprised at how far they underestimate his abilities and pure genius.

I'm so excited for America!

Tony Gasbarro said...

Let me be the first to deflate the air of the first-class post you put up by saying...

Fuckin'-A!

Awesome times! I have an awful bad taste in my mouth, and Barack Obama is the toothpaste to get it out of there!

Unknown said...

And let me be the second:
w00t!!

Greyhound Girl said...

I love feeling hopeful about politics again- and inspired and ready to be involved!

Irb said...

Sylvana: Me too! I'm also excited about Thanksgiving, since I'll probably be the only person at the table who voted for Obama ;-)

Farrago: Fuckin' A indeed. Now, spit...

Scarletvirago: b4r4ck 0b4m4 ftw!!!1!

Professor: I predict that Barack Obama will put an end to war, poverty, disease and crime, and establish a Utopian society of peace and harmony. And the Republicans will *still* be bitching about how much better things would have been if McCain had won...