Will Obama Make A Believer Out of You?

Check out the map at left and you get a sense of just one of the problems facing President Elect Obama. A majority in the heartland of America do not believe "Yes, we can." In his victory speech (click here for a copy of the complete text), he addressed those who would disagree with his decisions and policies: "But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you [to] join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand."

I am not trying to be cynical (Ok, maybe just a little - but I AM trying to make a reasonable comparison). This sounds like something Pharaoh could have honestly said to his Israelite work force. When the Israelites filed a labor protest, Pharaoh listened, went ballistic, and swiftly cut off their supplies of a vital raw material. He was honest about the new challenge the Israelites now faced and unrelenting in his requirement that the Israelites meet their production quotas and remake Egypt "brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand." At face value, Obama offers me little more: The hope of registering complaints with fat chance of changing anything.

I am trying NOT to go negative here. I have declared my intention to respect the laws and leaders of our nation and I detest the "he's-not-my-president" bumper sticker bologna that showed up after the election of President Bush. But I think it's important to make a fair assessment of the environment in which that response must be worked out "brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand."

The map above is somewhat misleading. It shows a greater geographical area in red than in blue. If we adjust the size of each state according to its electoral vote, we get a different picture. The area in blue now dominates the map and makes the red states much less of a force to be reckoned with. How much value will Obama attach to listening to the red states?

I think he is going to have his hands more than full placating the blue monster. "It's the economy, stupid," was a key campaign slogan in Bill Clinton's defeat of George H. W. Bush. The slogan was missing but not the sentiment in Obama's victory. Pundits and exit polls are calling economic concerns the engines driving his victory. People want Obama to make everything all better, and the blue monster thinks he's the man to do it.

I have heard folks talking about Obama as the leader we "deserve." I find Sam Mathid's sentiment more to the point: “People do not get what they 'deserve', they get precisely what it is that they are prepared to put up with.” If the blue monster becomes disappointed with President Obama's economic progress, they might not put up with him for long.

I think Mr. Obama gets this. In his victory speech, He cautioned, "We may not get there in one year or even one term." He is trying to buy time in the knowledge that the blue monster is fully expecting those changes-we-can-believe-in to arrive, if not on inauguration day, shortly thereafter.

Comments

[Alley]

Quoting you here....
In his victory speech, He cautioned, "We may not get there in one year or even one term." He is trying to buy time in the knowledge that the blue monster is fully expecting those changes-we-can-believe-in to arrive.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Well wouldn't u too seek to buy time since G Bush has America's economy such really hard work for him and his Administration to repair?

Calloused hand by Calloused hand..brick by brick etc... it's a great way to come out and say soooo ..Hey Guys We will really have to work really, really Hard to get this country back on it's footing in the world. Don't think not!
America has a whole lot of work now to do..to repair itself financially and internationally.

The whole world is Watching and it's Best that you Pray for God to help him as much along the way as he has appointed him to.

Only A fool would see his words as meaning Otherwise.. sadly blindly and Judgementally of course.
In the end..No man can curse what God has rightly Blessed.
May God bless America once again.

[AC]

Apparently they haven't quite figured out punctuation in la-la-land, or how to read cross-references.

[Austin]

I read an article about the President-elect when he was made the head of the Harvard Law Review. That article would seem instructive.

Essentially, Barack Obama was a blank slate: he allowed his classmates to think he was with them without ever knowing so. Many of those interviewed in the article corroborate both that he never told them where he stood, but that they inferred he stood with them. His role seems to have been almost professorial.

The era in which he was enrolled at Harvard was one fraught with enormously polarized and acrimonious student dialogue. (Students would outright "boo" one another in class discussion.)

I think that is interesting in light of His political history and his posture on the stump: He's still a blank slate.

I think once he starts painting, alot more people will be disenchanted than when he hadn't yet picked up his brushes. When the canvas is blank, it's easy to just be a listener. But once you start painting, sooner or later, someone's not going to like what they see.

[randy]

Austin,
Couldn't agree more, except in my opinion, Obama has been more of an opportunist than a threat. He's still trying to select the colors he's going to use.

[Jeff]

I love you, Alley. Thanks for taking the leap of faith to express yourself in a place where you probably know you'd have a minority viewpoint. I appreciate your honesty and forthrightness and I hope you stick around.