I've always been the type of guy who has friends from every walk of life. Every political viewpoint, economic background, and faith tradition is represented in my circle of friends and family. Living in the South, a large portion of them voted for McCain. My words to them are: RELAX! Every gut instinct I have is telling me the new guy in charge is a conciliatory type of guy who is used to reaching compromises. I truly believe he will govern from the center. This is the first time in decades that the Democrats have been in control in the Congress, Senate and the Presidency. Let's give them a chance.
The Republican Party has lost it's identity as a party of limited government and fiscal responsibility. They need time to regroup and reinvent themselves.. In the meantime, the country is not going to go to hell, I promise. There are still checks and balances, Republicans can still filibuster if things go too far left.
Everything comes in cycles. I've heard people complain about Obama's lack of experience, but I think it's not necessarily a bad thing. Washington needs a fresh set of eyes to cast upon the problems we face in this country; I think this is the closest thing to a "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" scenario we are likely to get.
We have lived under the politics of fear for eight years. Bush and his cohorts have tried to make us fear terrorists, socialists, and anything different from what we've done so far. The reason the Republicans lost is that Americans are tired of being afraid and we prefer to hope.
I'll leave you by revisiting a quote from Winston Churchill I've used here before. I think it's even more appropriate now:
"You can always count on Americans to do the right thing, after they've tried everything else."
9 years ago
