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| Yes | 71% | 220 votes | Total: 312 votes | |
| No | 29% | 92 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesThe change Barack Obama chooses to create has already begun with his historic and well-executed campaign and his monumental election to the presidency. The nation, the entire world, celebrated wildly on November 4th after eight nightmarish years of corporate fraud, torture and violent occupations, knowing that a constitutional law expert of intelligence, discipline and maturity will soon truly be in charge. It's a whole new confident and joyful mindset, always a great foundation for transformation.
The national mindset is important. President-elect Obama has repeatedly told all of us that any changes that are accomplished come from us. Obama did not run alone, did not canvas alone and he wasn't elected alone. Obama didn't pass his landmark ethics law in the Senate by himself, nor will he create more change alone.
It's clear that we the people are energized and ready to be included in our national destiny again, especially all the amazing young voters who provided so much conviction and so many votes. We're not only relieved at Obama's election - we're excited and ready to stay involved with what we consider our government now. We have personal investment in a government that will stop hurting us and start building us up to our potential. That's not just change; that's transformation.
Along with our support, Barack Obama knows people, knows how to bring them together, plans carefully and thinks about those plans a lot, understands Congress and the Constitution, and has the majority party's grateful support. A lot of the minority party like him too, since they helped vote him in.
Obama learned about gathering people together early in his community organizing experience, which allowed him to soundly overshadow the paltry skills and directly counter the disparaging comments of Sarah Palin and her running mate. Everyone can see that Barack Obama is accessible, deeply interested in and curious about others, and very capable in forming functional and goal-oriented relationships with others. He wasn't offered dinner and meaningful family time in Chicago just because he was a skinny organizer; people came to care about him and his work because he cared about them and knew how to listen to them and their dreams. Dreams, hopes are what it's all about.
Gathering working groups that will take responsibility and welcome diverse opinions has always been a necessary precursor for change. President-elect Obama has already formed these groups in Congress and Washington, and in his deft use of the Internet during his campaign. He has said that he will proceed with "deliberate haste", with emphasis on both aspects, to form the best Cabinet that has been seen in some time, one that will include skillful Republicans.
Obama has shown his ability to see the big picture and to plan for far down the road, as he did with his presidential campaign. Unlike George Bush, he will not be unable to assess and make educated estimates about where the nation is headed, or where emergency help is needed, or what result certain foreign policy actions might have globally. Unlike John McCain, Obama will not turn a deaf ear to national trends, opinions, feelings and problems. Unlike both Bush and McCain, Obama has a plan that will guide him as he integrates all these variables into it, and will be able to modify the plan when there is clear reason to do so. That's a huge change right there.
Sen. Obama actually started his presidential campaign before he ran for the Senate, and had a precise four-year plan for the White House that he methodically and carefully followed with the help of staff, advisors, friends and family. It's been a meteoric and strategic rise that lends great hope for more national rising in the next four years of Obama's first term.
His rise also shows that Obama will not govern on his own idiosyncratic "gut", as did the anti-intellectual and unlawful George Bush, who led the nation into the disastrous trough in which we now find ourselves. We will become a nation of laws, not men, again, and a nation known for its reason and vision.
All of these qualities, along with Sen. Obama's knowledge of Congress, its processes and players, and the great support that he has earned from the majority party in both houses, bodes well for his achievement of great and lasting changes.
The caveat which cannot be overstated is that all the changes will not occur in the first year, or even in the first term. We have been left in an unprecedented ditch of poor foreign policy judgments, economic failure based on fraud and no regulation, and environmental issues that could end life on earth. Because we're all bozos on this bus, we must all put our shoulder to the wheel and work with the highly competent man who will lead us. All of us together make up We the People, and are therefore responsible for change.
Learn more about this author, Dianne Lobes.
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No
Success for Obama? I think not-and here's why.
The man promised to continue to work across the aisle. Fact is, he never worked across party lines. In fact, he has no real accomplishments in the Senate, for the simple reason, he was never there. The man cannot finish anything he starts.
He became a state senator in Illinois-only to immediately begin to explore the opportunity of running for the US Senate. While in the State Senate, he rarely voted, and accomplished nothing. Once a US Senator-which he promised he wouldn't do, he immediately began to run for the Office of The President. Funny enough, the guy promised not to do that too-in fact telling many journalists he wasn't anywhere near the experience level to hold such a high office.
Now, we come to the recent and devastating chain of events. He has won the presidency. Oh the horror. The first thing he did, was hire the most partisan man in the national political scene to be his chief of staff. Immediately this says one thing. A resounding screw you to the Republican party, and ultimately the American Electorate. By hiring Rom Emmanuel, Obama has signaled to the world that he, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Ried have no desire, and no intent to reach across the aisle.
Will he deliver you ask? How can he deliver any of his promises? The country is in debt to the tune of somewhere around 14 trillion dollars, including the gigantic trade deficit. We are hemhoraging jobs, have the Treasury Department with their hands on our banks, and the worst is yet to come. It is already evident, from Obama's own statement, that healthcare will have to wait. This isn't a bad thing, because socialized healthcare doesn't work, but it is promise number one broken.
Cut to tax cuts. Well, Slick Willy made a similar promise. However, in order to balance the budget, he raised taxes on everyone down to an annual income of $45K. So, with the current deficit, and the myrad social programs he promises to enact, tax cuts are out the window.
But lets go back to Bipartisanship. That should be the most important promise to all of us. The endless acrimony and outright thievery in both houses in the form of earmarks, and making decisions on what's right for you and me, based solely on whether at the end of the day, it will cost them donations from their large commercial backers has to stop! These guys have you number, my number, and everyone else's number. They know that at the end of the day, we will not make them stop. There was one man who pledged to do so-and he didn't win.
If you are holding your breath for an etheral nervana during the Obama reign, you are going to be dead fast-cause holding your breath for four years will do that to a person. The guy will not live up to any of his promises. The Israelis are in grave danger with him in office. The Russians have already promised (today, the day after the election), to immediately deploy nukes at the Polish border. And currently the United States Treasury Department has employees on the ground in Saudi Arabia learning the ins and outs of Islamic Banking (under Sharia Law), which they fully intend to bring to the US (see: http://www.jewishwor ldreview.com/cols/ga ffney110408.php3 ).
Obama is no more able to deliver any of his promises, than I am able to be the President of The United States of America. He never intended to, and his agenda doesn't jibe with keeping promises. He didn't keep the promise of using public financing for his campaign, he didn't keep his promise not to run for President, which was made the the people of the State of Illinois, during and after his campaign for the US Senate, he didn't keep his promise to the people of the State of Illinois when he promised not to run for the US Senate. And lastly, the promises he has made throughout the campaign are already being dashed, and announcements are coming from his mouthpieces, as to what they won't be able to accomplish. So, the promises were nothing more than election garbage to steal the election from the only man in the race who was truly bipartisan, truly held the experience, and truly loved the US.
Learn more about this author, Matthew S Harrison.
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