“In this decisive moment, change has come to America.”
- President-Elect Barack Obama
November 4, 2008
Something deep inside me jumped for joy when it was announced that Barack Obama had won the 2008 Presidential Election. First of all, it meant the George W. Bush era was coming to an end. But more importantly, it signaled that a new era was about to begin.
I first heard of the guy in 2004, when he was a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention. Usually I find these speeches boring and retire to my room while my political news junkie roommate watches in the living room, but this guy reached out of the TV, grabbed me by the collar and got my attention. He was electric. Something deep inside of me told me that I was looking at our first African American president.
And of course, there are already those who seek to bring him down. The most ridiculous of them are the “birthers” who simply refuse to believe that he was born in the United States. There are the pseudo-grassroots causes trying to twist his ideas any which way they can, conjuring up things like “death panels.” FOX News hands them a megaphone and suddenly they seem so much more formidable than they already are.
But the bottom line is that I believe in Barack Obama. I’m not expecting him to end the war immediately, or reform health care right away, or turn the economy around on a dime and lead us into prosperity. Just like I’m not expecting him to walk on water, part the Red Sea or cause the Minnesota Vikings to win a Super Bowl. He inherited one hell of a mess, and it’s going to take a long time to clean up, probably longer than the eight years he is limited to serving.
Is he taking us in the right direction? How should I know. Just what is the right direction? Everybody seems to have their own idea. But Obama has the wheel right now, and nobody likes a back-seat driver.
- The 2012 Presidential Election
- President Barack Obama
- My US Senators
- Minnesota Governor
- The Tea Party
- The Electoral Process
- My Perfect Voting System
