Reasons to be Glad Obama Won

As I’ve mentioned before, I think the only way an Obama presidency could be successful was if he became a lying weasel that has only one guiding light — opinion polls.  Kind of like Bill Clinton, who may have disgraced the office of president but, in some ways, did more to advance conservatives ideals like free markets than his successor.

Whatever may come, however, there are some good things about an Obama win.  None of them, individually or in the aggregate, were good reasons to vote for him (although many did just that, I am sure), but they are a consolation prize:

(1) Less whining and derangement from the Left.  Not ‘none,’ because they are constitutionally incapable of that.  And any Obama failures will be blamed on the Right, of course, but until the next Newt Gingrich appears they don’t have a single target for their hate.

(2) Less whining from other countries.  Or at least from the populations of other countries — I believe that most foreign governments (barring Iran, North Korea, etc.) would have preferred McCain.  Obama’s win has already boosted America in the eyes of most of the world, and that is a good thing.  The trick now is to permit foreigners and Americans to simultaneously have a positive view of our country, instead of focusing solely on foreign opinion.

(3) America has elected a black president.  It is truly a historic moment, and one that is hard to imagine being possible even a couple years ago.  I do have to add that I find it ironic how so many commentators are going on about being color blind, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s comment about judging a man by the content of his character rather than the color of his skin.  If that were truly the case, than Obama would, at most, still be the junior senator from Illinois.  But regardless of the reason, it is worth being proud of this country, where only 60 years ago segregation and Jim Crow laws were the rule.  As an aside, I think the effect of race relations of an Obama presidency is entirely in his hands; if he governs the way he ran his campaign, using race as both a sword and shield against his opponents, then he risks setting this country back decades in that respect.

(4) Dancing in the streets instead of rioting in the streets.  I don’t know that there would have been riots, but emotions were running so high that it was at least a distint possibility.  Even if you think Obama’s supporters were deluded, it is hard to see that joy and not be at least a little hopeful that it is not completely misguided.  Related to number (1) above, an Obama defeat woud likely have divided the electorate and this country far worse than an Obama win; instead of the hate and anger and feeling of being cheated that would likely have been the emotions of Obama’s supporters, McCain supporters are mostly just disappointed and trying to be optimisitic that Obama won’t be as bad as they think he will.

(5) A loyal opposition.  Unlike the unhinged hatred directed at Bush, the Right is not likely to indulge in ‘he’s not my president’ antics. I think Slublog sums up this sentiment the best:

I love this country too much to do to President-Elect Obama what the left did to President Bush, John McCain and Sarah Palin. I hope my fellow conservatives will do the same – demonization is not essential to opposition. I plan to spend the next four years like I spent the last four – being a husband, dad and reluctant taxpayer. I’m going to disagree with the president a lot, but I don’t see that as a license to hate. I’ve spent far too much time criticizing the left to become like them.

See also the takes of Ed Morrissey and AllahPundit at Hot Air, Patterico, Michelle Malkin, Don Surber, etc., for the lack of lunacy and Obama Derangement Syndrome.  (PUMAs too.)  I think that it is a safe bet that, had the situation been reversed, DailyKOS, the Huffington Post, and others would all be (1) claiming that (despite the landslide) the election was stolen, and (2) being as hostile and degrading toward McCain as possible.  Well, they are probably doing the latter anyway, but I’m not going to go look.

(6) Hope instead of demoralization.  The young voters, and other groups that Obama reached out to that are not normally deeply involved in the political process, have seen that their voices can be heard.  It is much better for the country as a whole to have an involved, rather than apathetic, electorate.  The key now is to educate these voters so that they vote based on policies and what is best for the country in the long term rather than on feelings and personality.

I will update this post with other reasons as I think of them.  Please add others in the comments below.

UPDATE (November 6, 2008, at 8:06):

Not a new reason, but over at Pajamas Media John Hawkins follows an explanation of why right-leaning bloggers might have reacted with despair and hatred to Obama’s win, a la the Left’s reactions in 2000 and 2004, with a nice selection of examples of the sane reaction from the ‘Rightosphere.’ (h/t Hot Air headlines)