Obama's Democrats Crush McCain's Republicans

President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama. No verb is necessary. In addition, the Democratic Party picked up at least 15 seats in the House of Representatives (11 more have to be decided), and at least 5 in the Senate (four more are undetermined). Of the 11 governorships contested, the Democrats won 7. America has ended the Reagan Era, and the nation is a different, better place than it was yesterday.

Conservative apologists like Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough maintain that the election results were a verdict on the Republican Party and its failure to uphold conservative values. They are correct that the party of small government, fiscal responsibility and strong but cautious foreign policy delivered on none of those in the last eight years. One can argue that the Republican Party of George W. Bush is not the same that Ike Eisenhower led.

However, they have misunderstood the mood of the country and the ideological shift that has occurred. Americans (like Russians, Brazilians, Senegalese and everyone else on the planet) don't care what size the government is. They want it to address their needs. They want government that is responsive to the situation and that, to borrow a recent phrase, says “yes,we can.”

Government is but one tool in social organization. The market is another. Just as government should not dictate the price of blue jeans, the market should not be left free to undermine the interests of the entire society. Nor should the volunteer sector, at which America excels compared to other developed countries, be left to its own devices without tax policies that support the inherent generosity of the nation. A handyman knows when to use a hammer, a screwdriver, a wrench and a saw. American ideologues and politicians need to learn when to use government, the market and non-profit volunteer bodies to further the common good. The American left understands this a bit better than the right, but by no means has it figured out entirely.

On the matter of race, much has been said that is obvious. Watching Jesse Jackson fight back tears last night could leave only the coldest of hearts unmoved. That said for those under 50, those who have no recollection of “Whites Only” drinking fountains (what a stupid inefficiency!),President-Elect Obama is the right man for the job in times that are plain awful, and it just so happens that he has a Kenyan father. Does that mean racism is done? Tonight, a black professional will not be able to get a cab in New York to go home to 129th Street. That remains the challenge.

For non-Americans, the USA has reclaimed its reputation, with no disrespect to Senator John McCain who represents a different and equally noble face of the country. An America that strives to realize its promise is beloved by most of the world. Much of the anti-Americanism of the last 8 years arose not from a hatred of American values but from American failure to even try to live up to the promise. The problems facing the world have not changed overnight, but the mood has. America is, once again, there to help, offering the world an open hand rather than a clenched fist.

Most of all, though, the election of Mr. Obama is an example for every kid who is missing a parent, who doesn't have new shoes for school, who looks different. There are obstacles, but there are no excuses. That child can be whatever he or she wants to be and, as an adult, will wonder what the whole fuss about melanin was.

Finally, one must remember that Barack Hussein Obama is a human being and a politician, like those who rode in on his coat-tails. He is going to make mistakes, and this journal will oppose him when he does. He is going to have to make unlovely compromises, and this journal will assess the benefits against the losses in each situation. He is not St. Barack, and expectations may be much too high in many minds. Disappointment lies ahead for some. Yet there is the audacity of hope, and there he is, President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama, the skinny kid with the funny name.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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