Maybe We Were Waiting for Them Afterall
Ah, election night. Sure, it doesn't always go the way you'd like, but along with signaling the end of campaign ads, it's just plain exciting. This election night was admittedly more glum than four years ago, but I have to see the silver lining. Maybe it's a way to sleep at night or a way to stop my gag reflex when I see the flock with tears in their eyes and hear the fireworks outside, but I don't think this is necessarily a time for a Conservative such as myself to go find a window ledge. These thoughts might brighten your day or just stop you from throwing up, but hear me out.
If you're a Conservative, I'd like you to picture how things would have gone had McCain run a better campaign and pulled out the W (no pun intended) tonight. Yes, you think you're happy, but then picture things four years down the road. So you won in 2008 and you had four years of the most liberal House and Senate in memory, and at best a moderate Republican President. Let's be honest, what was John McCain going to do? Would he ever have had a chance to lower taxes? Would he ever convince the Senate to lift their ban on drilling and lower our energy bills? Please. If John McCain had won, we'd be in the same situation four years from now, except we'd probably have cleaner air. The economy would still be in a quagmire because he wouldn't have been able to do anything about it and the enthusiasm on the left would only be mounting, as well as the distrust among Independents towards the Republican party.
Now with Obama as President, consider 2012. Where will we be? Will Obama see a bill that even slightly resembles his plan to "cut taxes for 95% of America"? Doubtful. The truth is that the Tax & Spend Liberals that just picked up even more seats are going to have a hay-day, and you're going to pay for it. You're going to pay for it, but so are those Independents that bought into Obama's soothing words and cool demeanor. The casual Independent will unfortunately not pay attention to whatever happens with the Defense of Marriage Act or the right to life in this country under Obama, but they will certainly notice when their paychecks start shrinking after the Bush Tax Cuts lapse, or when their electric bills "skyrocket", as he warned they would. And the enchanted who made such delusional claims today as "I won't need to worry about putting gas in my car, I won't need to worry about paying my mortgage! If I help him, he'll help me!"...well, they're about to get a reality check.
The enthusiasm and the messianic following for Obama will only play to our advantage in four years. I almost wish they could have hit 60 seats in the Senate because as sharply as we swing left this year, we'll swing that much further right when things don't go as promised. Obama has taken Pedro's message further than any politician I have ever seen to the point that his flock literally thinks he'll make all their dreams come true. As we've just witnessed, that can get him into office but I can't see how it will keep him there. That's why when I heard a Fox News analyst calling it "...the end of a Republic revolution that began in 1994", I really have to disagree and say it has opened the door for the beginning of a Republican revolution. As far as I'm concerned, the last one ended even before 2006. Now with the Democrats in power and an economy that they will have to fix (because it's not going to fix itself), we are setting ourselves up for victory. It may seem like famine for Republicans, but the feast is right around the corner.
The other positive effect is that this presidency could straighten out the nauseating abundance of liberalism in the youth. It might not be so nauseating for me except I am the youth!. I went to high school in a highly Republican suburb of Portland and too much of my class went into college conservative and came out liberal. I attribute this not just to a liberal environment (University) but to an political state that has given credence to the liberal ideals. We (the youth) have formed all of our political opinions during a time of war and during a time of Republican rule. We know two things: 1) this country is not perfect and 2) Republicans have controlled the country for as long as we can remember. The greatest service that Obama will do for the youth is show them reality. The reality is that the country will never be perfect. You can't feed all the hungry, you can't lift everyone out of poverty, there will always be rich people and poor people, you will always have to pay for what you get in some way and you will always have to earn what you're paid in some way. It is not the government's job to make people successful, it is the government's job to make it possible for people to be successful and when you try to make people successful, it becomes harder for someone to become successful on their own. But we don't know that because we don't know what the New Deal is and we've never seen double-digit interest rates or an income tax bracket reach 94%. Until we see what it's like, we won't believe that the country can't be perfect.
There will be social injustices, and that is unfortunate. He'll likely appoint a judge, and that would be a little heartbreaking because it has ramifications beyond 2012. However, Obama has been setting himself up for failure since his speech in 2004 when the flock heard his voice and started lining up 2-by-2. It is time now to sit tight and watch it play out. We need to use the next four years to regroup as a collection of like-minded individuals, find our message, and find our messenger. If we do that, the country will be primed to listen.
Comments
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Although I was horrified to watch our country elect a Marxist, and a person so lacking in our cultural literacy that he believes we have 57 states and confuses the atom bomb with Pearl Harbor, my reaction to the election was the same as yours.
Maybe this will be the terrible wake-up call needed to give everyone a reality check.
I would first like to point out that you have no proof whatsoever in your claim that Obama is not a "radical lefty". Of course the image that he is moderate is one of the things that got him elected, but research proves otherwise. I don't know what to point to for proof other than his voting record.
As for the government making people successful, I'm referring to supporters of Obama such as the lady at a rally in Florida on election day who said, "I don't need to worry about putting gas in my car, I don't need to worry about paying my mortgage- if I help him, he'll help me!" She is certainly waiting for the government to make her successful and I think there are a lot of others like her out there. People vilified the rich during the entire election and said that the "rich got richer" under Bush. I'm totally fine with Bush making it possible for people to get richer, that's an accomplishment as far as I'm concerned. I don't understand how he made it more difficult for the poor to get rich but that's the picture that Obama painted.
I call Obama's followers a "flock" because sheep follow their shepherd with an undying devotion, much like Obama followers follow him (they were wearing Obama socks for crying out loud!). The same metaphor is used in the Bible to describe Christians. If that's the "flock" that I'm apart of, you're absolutely correct and I have good reason to. If the flock you're referring to is conservative values, I'm not quite sure the metaphor applies. It is not as though I'm for lower taxes because I'm part of the Conservative flock or I'm pro-life because I'm part of the Conservative flock, etc. I'm for lower taxes because I believe lower taxes motivates people to work harder, gives people more money to pump into the economy (which generates more tax income, by the way), and increases every working American's standard of living by letting them decide what their money is spent on. I'm pro-life because I've never heard any reasonable argument or evidence that shows a baby should have fewer rights inside a womb than outside a womb. I come to other political opinions not based on the ideology I follow but instead the morals I was raised with, the teachings in the Bible, and my own intelligence. The fact that you think "Obama is not the radical lefty that many of you portray him as", even though all known proof indicates otherwise, leads me to believe your devotion to Obama lies outside of reason and has more to do with emotion and presentation, just like his other followers. Hence, his flock.
Lastly, when I mention the "94% tax bracket", I'm not saying he's going to raise taxes to 94%. My point is perfectly illustrated in a conversation I had with an Obama supporter last week where he said "How much worse could it get?" We don't know how bad it can because we've never seen things worse. However, I'm sure the same was said when we elected Herbert Hoover or when we elected Jimmy Carter. My point is that things can actually get worse. The good news for conservatives is that when they do, we'll have a whole host of people to point the finger at.
Well, after our back and forth on facebook, I'd hope that you'd have a better sense of those high school compatriots that went to college conservative and came out liberal. As one of those that you are labeling, while I would label myself with either of those tags, I have to disagree with your projections. There is so much negativity in the Republican retoric. The hope that Obama has voiced to the nation, for me and many others like me, is a country where we live tolerant of our neighbors' choices. It IS to empower every human being in this nation to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This is manner in which I have seen people have chosen life over abortion, sobriety over inebriation, education over crime, and work whenever and wherever they can find it.
I just hope that this message reaches the hardened souls of Republicans who believe there is a possibility of evil in every person. I disagree. I have seen who the most angry, violent, cruel people also have a heart (they have a mother who loves them). Therefore we have a duty as citizens to give every person an EQUITABLE chance to make good choices.
As a fellow Picasa API developer (using JQuery) I found your site searching for more info on the API. I was surprised to find you are so negative about our new president. I understand that as a conservative you are disappointed, but I think you and other conservatives don't need to rush to judgment, especially since the trickle-down, anti-regulation policies seem to have categorically failed, and also because Obama is not the radical lefty that many of you portray him as. He is probably no more liberal as a president than Clinton was.
"It is not the government's job to make people successful, it is the government's job to make it possible for people to be successful"
It's funny you should say that. I agree. But you sound more like a Democrat saying that than a typical Conservative. Most conservatives wouldn't even admit that the success of the individual can be good for the economy as a whole, nor can the government have any positive impact on that.
And when you talk about the Obama supporters as a flock, just realize that you are in your own flock. And your flock is arguably bigger than the left. A significant amount of conservative flockers voted for Obama, and you should search your soul about why that is if you think that the "conservative revolution" isn't dead. Maybe it isn't. But it might well be.
"we've never seen double-digit interest rates or an income tax bracket reach 94%."
The top income bracket right now is 36%. Nowhere near 94%. I don't think that Obama is gonna go all lefty and alienate the youth, but I do think there is a danger that a moribund economy may get blamed on the Democrats and by 2010 Republicans could well take back the House and Senate.
you have no idea how hard it is for me to say it, but you are right. All day i have been having a hard time dealing with the election results. After reading this, i see this may be EXACTLY what this country needs!!!
I concur. Good points.
Very nice Cam. Very well put. You make me proud!