Four More Years

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The triumph of hope over experience

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Winston Churchill is noted for saying, amongst many things, that second marriages are triumphs of hope over experience. The American electorate voting for President Obama yesterday would squarely fit into such hope brigade.

Mr. Obama wound up winning the popular vote by over 2 million ballots. Clearly, there were many who voted for him who were part of the 23 million unemployed and yet they decided to support him. Such requires a level of hypnosis (or vulcan mind-meld) that would make even the Clintons envious. No wonder Hillary lost to him in the primaries; we are dealing with a true political master.

There will be plenty of time for election post-mortems to determine whether Mitt Romney should be flogged for a late-campaign surge that was too little, too late or whether Nixon or Hoover should be blamed for what would otherwise have been an easy Republican victory. Nonetheless, the reality is that Mr. Obama won and will be president for the next 4 years.

If the president’s first term is any indicator of how he’ll govern, the next 4 years could be difficult for Democrats, Republicans and the country at large. The president is already hawking a bi-partisan line which can be easily translated into a “do it my way or the highway” stance.

Yet there are differences between now and 2008. Specifically, Mr. Obama no longer has any more campaigns ahead of him so he need not worry about appeasing his base to get through an election. Additionally, as is with any president re-elected in the last 60 years, the main thought on his mind the night of re-election is his place in history. Perhaps President Obama will have a new-found focus on how history will perceive him based upon his actions and not the soaring but often hollow rhetoric of bi-partisanship that he has so often proffered.

As one of Mitt Romney’s last public acts (though not his last act to benefit the public), he said in his concession speech last night “The nation, as you know, is at a critical point. At a time like this, we can’t risk partisan bickering and political posturing. Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people’s work. And we citizens also have to rise to the occasion.”

Let’s hope President Obama agrees that it is a time for bi-partisanship and and he actually follows through with such.

-I.M. Windee


One Comment to “Four More Years”

  1. Coleman Edwards says:

    What we need to take away from this election is that legacies take eight years to develop. Who do you blame? Those that distanced themselves from George Junior.

    What do we do? Learn from this.

    My belief is that the legacy of Obama will be how well he deals with the grid lock that is here.

    As with Clinton, Obama will have to become less centric minded to get things accomplished. Much like Clinton, and perhaps more like Clinton, legacy will be focused on a beret. Monica’s and the Special Forces Berets worn by the Navy Seals.

    Never the less, such an isolated mark on human kind has to be a let down for their party.

    So, believe me, there is resentment around right now. Whether or not Obama is a greater “politician” than Clinton remains to be seen.

    What I think will happen is that the backlash of disdain that happened in 76 will occur again in 2016. This is ripe for the picking.

    How we, as republicans, respond is critical. As with fruit, how it is picked is crucial. If we send in another Casper Q. Milktoast backed candidate then we will fail.

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