Some Possible Implications of an Obama Victory

[Hometown]

As I ponder the possibility of an Obama Victory here are some my thoughts.  Hope you will share yours.

If he wins:

The media has had a love affair with Obama (for good reason) but there is bound to be a let down of some sort once we see him in action.  A good leader can get us through that and I believe he would but there will be a let down.

Obama's election will raise expectations among people of color – rightly so, of course.  But there is bound to be a higher level of frustration once minorities realize that even with Obama's victory they will still face formidable challenges.  Some folks have argued that the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s raised expectations and when those expectations were not fully realized it led to civil unrest.

Conversely, minority folks who felt like perpetual outsiders in the U.S. will now feel more fully invested in our system ensuring a smoother transition into what has been called the "browning of the U.S."

Obama will own his party.  He will redefine the Democrats.  Perhaps more so than any Democrat since Roosevelt.  The Left will not look like it looked before.

Fiscal responsibility would have to have a positive impact on our bottom line.

Republicans will also need to redefine their party.  Question is will they break towards the Center or more likely, break even further to the Right (somewhere just short of fascism (we hope)).

[cannon_fodder]

I agree with many of your contentions, positives I look forward to when/if Obama wins:

1) A stop of the witch hunt against homosexuals.

2) Limited military spending.  I support a powerful military, but we are getting out of control.  Short term massive spending may be required, but without a long term tax plan to pay for it we can not afford it.  Don't butcher the military by any means, but get it in check.

3) Minorities will/should feel more vested and the "the man keeping us down" factor should be mitigated.  Another step towards showing that anyone can do anything in these United States.  

4) International relations should improve.  I have some fear that he will get used in this regard, but am confident the net effect will be a positive.  We are not well liked worldwide.  Opinions I do not care about, but the general level of distrust of our positions, dislike of our economic interests, and the loss of an ability to persuade are areas that I care about.

Toss in increased international travel TO the United States and it's certainly a "W."

5) I believe civil rights (fears on property rights via redistribution and free speech via the "fairness doctrine" reserved) will improve.  The self spying will probably be reigned in, the patriot act tamed, and other hostile elements of government calmed.  At least, I hope so.

6) Immigration reform may actually happen.  Actual real immigration reform.  At this point we either need to build a giant wall and shoot anyone trying to get over, under, or around it - or change the system to facilitate the needs and wants of American employers and Mexican workers.

7) Openness. I feel Barrack Obama will have a more open White House than we currently have.  I feel nearly ANYONE would have a more open White House, but Barrack has a more open feel to him.  Just a feeling...

YOUTH.  Some youth in the White House will be a nice change.  It should just seem more "fresh."  

Fact is, I'm looking forward to "change" on many levels.  Clearly I am reserved on multiple fronts (per other posts), but in most ways a step away from Bush is a step in the correct  direction.

[Hoss]

quote:Originally posted by Hometown

As I ponder the possibility of an Obama Victory here are some my thoughts.  Hope you will share yours.

If he wins:

The media has had a love affair with Obama (for good reason) but there is bound to be a let down of some sort once we see him in action.  A good leader can get us through that and I believe he would but there will be a let down.

Obama's election will raise expectations among people of color – rightly so, of course.  But there is bound to be a higher level of frustration once minorities realize that even with Obama's victory they will still face formidable challenges.  Some folks have argued that the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s raised expectations and when those expectations were not fully realized it led to civil unrest.

Conversely, minority folks who felt like perpetual outsiders in the U.S. will now feel more fully invested in our system ensuring a smoother transition into what has been called the "browning of the U.S."

Obama will own his party.  He will redefine the Democrats.  Perhaps more so than any Democrat since Roosevelt.  The Left will not look like it looked before.

Fiscal responsibility would have to have a positive impact on our bottom line.

Republicans will also need to redefine their party.  Question is will they break towards the Center or more likely, break even further to the Right (somewhere just short of fascism (we hope)).

Why would we hope that the right would break like that?

While quite a lot of you believe I drink the left's kool-aid without question, you'd be surprised to know that I'm more centrist or even, heaven forbid, conservative on a lot of ideals.

Abortion..while I believe it's the choice of the woman, I also believe options should be made.  Personally, I'm against it.  But it's the word of law right now.

Immigration - best done when legal; send those who are here illegally home and do NOT provide amnesty for those illegals already here.

I am Christian, but I'm not a 'bible-thumper'.  I do not attend church (I believe organized churches are farcical and really only exist for people to give their hard-earned money over to for no good reason).

I grew up in a lower middle class abusive household with little for myself; then having to take care of my Mother during my senior year, and now, being the only unmarried-by-way-divorce-with-no-children child of my Mother, I wind up taking care of her again at age 40 when she divorces my dad because he has essentially 'lost his marbles'.

I don't complain about that, but I've now seen first-hand how the system works for people like my Mother (she is fully handicapped but can live fairly independently) and I would like to see change.  I don't believe the ultra-Caucasian Republican party has that ability right now (yes, I did say that, because for the most part, it's true).  For the last eight years, the Republicans have been more worried about advancing their agenda then they have been worried about the Americans that they serve.

I'm not saying Democrats aren't guilty of the same or couldn't be guilty.  But it will take ALL PARTIES, not just one, to fix the problem.

Quit squabbling, no matter who wins, and let's fix the country in January!

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by Hometown


Obama will own his party.  He will redefine the Democrats.  Perhaps more so than any Democrat since Roosevelt.  The Left will not look like it looked before.

What was the general feel on Clinton amongst Dems then?  I always assumed he had somewhat of a mandate on the Democrat party after 1992, or did they cease their love affair when he went centrist (or Democrat Lite) after giving the more liberal parts of his agenda only a token effort?

I'm just curious what you are getting at here because I kinda thought the Clintons owned the party for 8 years.

[cecelia]

The end of Reaganism and the catastrophe of trickle down economics and the veneration of All Things Ayn Rand.

The beginning of the reconstruction of this country after the chaos and destruction of the Republican party.

If McCain wins, however, healthcare in this country will get even worse. Infant mortality rates will continue their march upward until they finally surpass those of Eastern European countries, and American healthcare will begin the descent into 3rd World status.

The wealthy will be well taken care of, of course, because they are the source of all good in this country, at least according to Republican philosophy. Kind of like the Vatican and the nobles of European feudalism.

The poor, however? Well, it's their own damned fault anyway so who cares - or so says the wingers.

Under McCain, languages other than English will gain even greater notoriety as evils to be purged from our nation, and schools and universities will offer even fewer courses in them than they do now. Education will be eyed with tremendous suspicion, although our high schools will continue to suffer the damned if they do damned if they don't syndrome --- they will continue graduating the functionally illiterate because they have no means of educating them and otherwise, the federal government won't fund them. Just make sure they can pass the tests!

Our futures will be completely given over to those who can best care for it, as it's obvious we peons, suffering as we do to pay the bills, are thoroughly incompetent. Best let the CEOs and hedge fund managers take control of things even more than they do now. They're rich, which is the equivalent of God Status under Reagonomics and Bushnism, and they will ensure we continue to be held hostage to their Biblical edicts - which, of course, don't have anything to do with them because they're RICH, after all, which means God is smiling upon them ... but not us, for some reason.

Yes, life under McCain will really suck even more than it does under that idiot in the WH now.

I just hope it doesn't come to pass.

[we vs us]

Obama's machine isn't going away.  He's done some really revolutionary organizing (and fundraising) and the question is going to be, what happens to it when it's initial purpose is accomplished?  He's going to have this extra-governmental grass-roots structure he can call on.  How will he use it?  Can he use it?  

We'll have to see what happens on election day to see if they turn out, but Obama could also have a whole generation of young politically responsive Americans on his side.  High school and college ages primarily. I'm speculating from what I've read, but it's sounding like this campaign has been a galvanizing experience for an entire generation of kids.  If true, Obama's succeeded in cementing his legacy within liberal American politics for the next couple of decades or more, and he hasn't even won the election yet.  The groundwork he's done for the Democratic Party of the future is beyond estimating.

I think his effect on black Americans will be hugely beneficial on the surface of things, but also hugely complex.  He shatters a lot of biases, but also confirms a lot of them, too.  That's really just to say that race issues in America are never, ever going to go away.  Period.  And I wish it were different, but it isn't.   On a personal level, I'm terribly proud that a majority of my countrymen seem to be capable of seeing past race and into the content of the man's heart and head.  There's going to be that reprobate minority that just can't cotton to it, but if a black man can win this election in something even approaching a landslide, then the USA isn't nearly as down and out as I thought it was.

Regaining our international reputation may be one of the most important things to get out of an Obama presidency, in my opinion, and as an internationalist, I DO care what the world thinks, It's from the rest of the world that we derive all of our soft power, which is what gets things done 90% of the time. We're a likeable country.  When we do what we say we're going to do and live up to our own ideals, we're irresistible.  An Obama Presidency is the best and most obvious evidence that we've turned away from Bush and all that he stands for.  That alone will open doors that have been shut to us.  

Last thought:  I'm not sure the Baby Boomers are ready to go so quietly.  I'm not sure how that will play out, but I'm convinced that generational politics were one of the major untold stories about this campaign season.  Age, experience is going to continue to play a role in an Obama administration, but not in the way McCain or the MSM seem to want to point up.  The BBers brought with them a whole slew of generational pathologies and priorities that we've seen played out over and over again from Clinton down through Bush.  Obama isn't part of that, and is trying to construct a political order that is post-Vietnam, post-Civil Rights, post-Watergate, post-Summer of Love.  I really can see that he's conscious of the differences in generation, but I think that the BBers still in government will try to reimpose those priorities on his Administration . . . or at least reimpose the same terms of debate.  Don't know what all that means other than I think Obama represents some big stuff, changes that were going to happen anyway but are crystallizing around him.  

It's an exciting and scary time, is all I can say.

[cecelia]

we vs us, I'm a Boomer, and I'm thrilled about Obama. The Summer of Love needs to be laid to rest once and for all. I never was a fan of it anyway.

What excited me was the promise of the Civil Rights movement for all people, including Whites, and its emphasis on education, peaceful resistance and resolution, and more for the other than ourselves. All of that was quite nearly destroyed, but I think what (fingers crossed) is being ushered in will re-awaken it.

The age of bumper stickers reading "Whoever dies with the most toys wins" will finally be over, in other words.

But there's a lot of work that'll need to be done.

[Hawkins]

I think because of his diverse cultural upbringing, he may be the U.S. President who actually works out a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians.

Didn't Carter start this with the Camp David Accords?

Every U.S. President since has tried, but Obama may be able to make progress in that region that no other President has.

[Red Arrow]

quote:Originally posted by cecelia

The end of Reaganism and the catastrophe of trickle down economics and the veneration of All Things Ayn Rand.

The beginning of the reconstruction of this country after the chaos and destruction of the Republican party.

If McCain wins, however, healthcare in this country will get even worse. Infant mortality rates will continue their march upward until they finally surpass those of Eastern European countries, and American healthcare will begin the descent into 3rd World status.

The wealthy will be well taken care of, of course, because they are the source of all good in this country, at least according to Republican philosophy. Kind of like the Vatican and the nobles of European feudalism.

The poor, however? Well, it's their own damned fault anyway so who cares - or so says the wingers.

Under McCain, languages other than English will gain even greater notoriety as evils to be purged from our nation, and schools and universities will offer even fewer courses in them than they do now. Education will be eyed with tremendous suspicion, although our high schools will continue to suffer the damned if they do damned if they don't syndrome --- they will continue graduating the functionally illiterate because they have no means of educating them and otherwise, the federal government won't fund them. Just make sure they can pass the tests!

Our futures will be completely given over to those who can best care for it, as it's obvious we peons, suffering as we do to pay the bills, are thoroughly incompetent. Best let the CEOs and hedge fund managers take control of things even more than they do now. They're rich, which is the equivalent of God Status under Reagonomics and Bushnism, and they will ensure we continue to be held hostage to their Biblical edicts - which, of course, don't have anything to do with them because they're RICH, after all, which means God is smiling upon them ... but not us, for some reason.

Yes, life under McCain will really suck even more than it does under that idiot in the WH now.

I just hope it doesn't come to pass.

I don't know who pi**ed on your entire life but it had to be more than the Republican Party.  Please promise me that you will move to another country if McCain wins.

[cecelia]

quote:I don't know who pi**ed on your entire life but it had to be more than the Republican Party. Please promise me that you will move to another country if McCain wins.

My life is fine. []

But it's the lives of others that I've seen ruined by this administration, and the Republicans in general, that leads me to my conclusions.

I count myself fortunate that I'm not so insulated from reality or so cold to the world that I'm unaffected when I see what's happening to our most vulnerable populations --- our children, our elderlies, and increasingly, to us.

Then again, this is one of the reddest states in the country. It also has one of the highest child abuse and domestic violence rates, worst educational systems, and largest prison populations. Funny, isn't it, how Republicanism and abuse rates and poverty and horrid educations (except for the very wealthiest) seem to go hand in hand.

Fortunately, most of the rest of the country isn't interested. []

[Red Arrow]

quote:Originally posted by cecelia

quote:I don't know who pi**ed on your entire life but it had to be more than the Republican Party. Please promise me that you will move to another country if McCain wins.

My life is fine. []

But it's the lives of others that I've seen ruined by this administration, and the Republicans in general, that leads me to my conclusions.

I count myself fortunate that I'm not so insulated from reality or so cold to the world that I'm unaffected when I see what's happening to our most vulnerable populations --- our children, our elderlies, and increasingly, to us.

Then again, this is one of the reddest states in the country. It also has one of the highest child abuse and domestic violence rates, worst educational systems, and largest prison populations. Funny, isn't it, how Republicanism and abuse rates and poverty and horrid educations (except for the very wealthiest) seem to go hand in hand.

Fortunately, most of the rest of the country isn't interested. []

I disagree with most of your conclusions from your observations.  I'm sure your mind is made up so I won't try to confuse you with facts. This state is very red in national elections (thank the deity of your choice) but very purple locally.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by cecelia

The end of Reaganism and the catastrophe of trickle down economics and the veneration of All Things Ayn Rand.

The beginning of the reconstruction of this country after the chaos and destruction of the Republican party.

If McCain wins, however, healthcare in this country will get even worse. Infant mortality rates will continue their march upward until they finally surpass those of Eastern European countries, and American healthcare will begin the descent into 3rd World status.

The wealthy will be well taken care of, of course, because they are the source of all good in this country, at least according to Republican philosophy. Kind of like the Vatican and the nobles of European feudalism.

The poor, however? Well, it's their own damned fault anyway so who cares - or so says the wingers.

Under McCain, languages other than English will gain even greater notoriety as evils to be purged from our nation, and schools and universities will offer even fewer courses in them than they do now. Education will be eyed with tremendous suspicion, although our high schools will continue to suffer the damned if they do damned if they don't syndrome --- they will continue graduating the functionally illiterate because they have no means of educating them and otherwise, the federal government won't fund them. Just make sure they can pass the tests!

Our futures will be completely given over to those who can best care for it, as it's obvious we peons, suffering as we do to pay the bills, are thoroughly incompetent. Best let the CEOs and hedge fund managers take control of things even more than they do now. They're rich, which is the equivalent of God Status under Reagonomics and Bushnism, and they will ensure we continue to be held hostage to their Biblical edicts - which, of course, don't have anything to do with them because they're RICH, after all, which means God is smiling upon them ... but not us, for some reason.

Yes, life under McCain will really suck even more than it does under that idiot in the WH now.

I just hope it doesn't come to pass.

Do hyperbole much?

[Steve]

According to some of the "people" the national TV news shows (NBC, CBS, ABC) have interviewed, if Obama wins we will all be eating watermellon and "chitlins," wearing tap shoes, capping our front teeth gold, and praising Allah.  The prejudice and ignorance still alive in this country in 2008 is incredible.

IMO, an Obama victory is eminent and the best thing that could happen to the U.S. at this time.

[nathanm]

quote:Originally posted by Red Arrow

but very purple locally.

Oklahoma Democrats are much closer to Bill Frist than Obama or Ted Kennedy. They're right around where Arlen Specter is. In many states, if not most, they wouldn't be Democrats.

[inteller]

if he wins....people will become better aims.