McCain conceded shortly after 11 eastern time, but I was already heating up my helping of crow.
Congratulations and good luck to Obama, and I’ll put some of that crow in the freezer to hopefully eat in a few years if his presidency is actually successful and beneficial to this country.
I hope he gives a hearty thank you to Secretary Paulson and Rep. Pelosi — Paulson for transforming a difficult financial situation into a full-blown panic, and Pelosi for sabotaging the first bailout bill with her poisonously partisan speech, thereby undermining McCain’s work on pushing the compromise.
I doubt I will be getting any job offers from the Psychic Friends Network, but here are a couple things I see happening and/or questions I have about the next few years:
REZKO
This is a tough one for President Obama. Indications are that federal investigators are paying more attention to the circumstances of Obama’s home purchase, and at the same time Rezko is presumably squealing in exchange for a lighter prison sentence. If Obama has nothing to hide, or if Rezko cares enough to keep silent through four years of federal prison, no problem. However, if there was something shady that Rezko can and may reveal, does President Obama pardon him? At that point, I think it becomes a balancing game between how likely a criminal investigation (and possible impeachment) would be versus the damage a pardon for Rezko would do to Obama’s chances for a second term. Tough call, but I think the answer is to wait it out — the media hasn’t shown any inclination to be tough on Obama, or, historically, on Democrats in general. If Whitewater didn’t sink the Clintons, Obama could probably avoid any serious repercussions at least until he won a second term.
LIBERAL/SOCIALIST AGENDA
Another tough call. How much of his ‘progressive’ agenda does Obama actually push? That depends mainly on how firmly Obama believes in the cause, as opposed to political power — which we should have known in advance, but didn’t. Unless he truly does amazing things, I think he has only two years to push any agenda. If the bloom is off the rose before 2010 — and I don’t see how it can be avoided, with the insanely high expectations of the ‘messiah’ — expect signficant Republican gains in the mid-term elections, and probably the loss of the Democratic majority.
If Obama governs with an eye on two terms, I think any lasting harm from Obama policies will be minimal. Sadly, I have to join the legions hoping that Obama is a cynical opportunist in the Clinton mold rather than a idealogue. If he uses his first two years, with significant (although not filibuster-proof) majorities, I think he’ll only have one term but that it will be more disastrous for the U.S. than Carter’s. Good for the Republicans in 2012, maybe (unless some of the more hysterical predictions of liberal fascism come true), but bad for the country.
UNITY/PARTISANSHIP/RACE RELATIONS
With regard to Obama’s claims to be a uniter, and to be post-racial, post-partisan, etc., I will state unequivocally that his presidency will have the opposite effect. If nothing else, his willingness to use race as both a shield and a weapon leads me to believe that his presidency will be more ‘divide and conquer’ than ‘unite.’
SCARIEST PART OF THE OBAMA WIN
What probably scares me the most about Obama’s victory isn’t the prospect of four (or more) years of President Obama, because I believe that even if he tries to govern as a radical he will be checked — Republicans aside, just having a (D) after one’s name does not make someone a left-wing loon. What does scare me, though, is Vice-President Joe Biden. God love ‘im, but the thought of something happening to Obama and Biden having to step up scares the pee out of me. Obama may be entirely out of his depth, or even have a sinister agenda, but Joe is just a chucklehead.
