Regardless of your political philosophy, Senator Obama's victory on the 4th of November was a marvelous event for our republic. The number of people casting ballots this election reassures me that our citizens have not become disenchanted with their civic responsibilities or their interrelationship with our nation's direction. As a conservative, I obviously did not vote for Senator Obama; however, unlike what many on the left have done and continue to do with their attacks on the Bush Administration, I will not disparage him with ad hominum attacks nor pre-judge what I believe he will do or not do once inaugurated. I call on all conservative pundits, columnists, and bloggers to start on a new path of civility in our opposition to an Obama Administration. The Republican Party would do well to stop with all of the finger pointing and the assignment of blame for its loss of the presidency and a further decline in its congressional numbers. The Democrats are now in total control and rather than appearing as a disgruntled mass of opposition, the Republicans need to analyze where their message fell short, develop their party's solution to our nation's ills and sell it to the American public. Americans, by and large, are impatient with complainers and will actively support problem solvers. The Democrats have made this a relatively easy task since their sole theme this past election season was to hang the failures of President Bush around the necks of Senator John McCain and those republican members of Congress seeking reelection.
I traveled all over the country during the final stretch of the presidential election race and I paid attention to televised political advertisements in several states. Almost 100% of those advertisements targeting republican candidates attached the candidates to President Bush's hip pocket and did not highlight the political objectives of the Democratic Party nor its candidates. So, now that they have achieved power, what will their agenda be? Since 2006, the democratically controlled Congress has done nothing. Of course, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid took this path in order to not harm Senator Obama's run for the White House. Now that Senator Obama is the incoming President, they will no longer be able to hide their objectives and I believe that the public is about to receive a rude awakening. More than a few of us are in for a real shocker when it becomes apparent just what "change" means. The recent press release from MoveOn.org reminding the Democrats that it spent $88 million dollars to help elect Senator Obama proves my point.
So, who is Senator Obama? Nobody knows due to the vague outline he has painted of himself. Some say he will be a centrist. His voting record at the state and federal levels doesn't validate this assumption. I guess all of us will have to wait and see. Some amongst us are already fearing an Obama administration. Gun sales have spiked since his election as gun owners fear his administration will seek to infringe on their 2nd Amendment rights. Personally, I have reservations about how he will govern. Leadership is a tenuous and fluid responsibility. President-elect Obama is said to be a cautious man. Leaders often have to counterbalance diametrically opposed attributes. Senator Obama has never shown me just where the fulcrum point is between his cautiousness and decisiveness and this is just one of the many reasons he failed to secure my vote. I fear that his cautiousness on domestic and foreign issues could lead to inaction. His 130 "present" votes while in the state senate of Illinois tend to support this fear. Herein lies the difference between a legislator and an executive. Senator Obama will no longer be able to blend into a mass of legislators and we will all soon see whether or not he will be able to handle the pressure. For the sake of our nation, I wish him well until his policies begin to step on my toes.
De Oppresso Liber
