An Inflection Point...We swing Left

These are interesting times we are living in...I am hoping we are up to the challenge. These past few weeks have galvanized this great country in a way I have not seen in my lifetime. While 9/11 was a powerful and defining moment I do not believe we took advantage of what it could have offered the world. A chance to offer Hope... to be a symbol for people in this world. To collect all of our sum parts and make something bigger than the sum.

Instead we continued down the road of petty Left/Right, Right/Wrong, Us/Them thinking driving the problems deeper into our collective whole.

I had thought long and hard about my vote this past election. What would I be supporting? What principles do I want to see guiding this country? Who deserved my vote? Who would grow into a leader capable of dealing with this storm of challenges facing our future?

Obama is a thoughtful, intelligent, measured man and I think he has the skills to be a wonderful leader of this country. I disagree with most of his policy decisions however.

McCain is an experienced politician, a warrior and a man of principle. He is no Bush... he is his own man. He foolishly let himself get dragged into the Republican miasma and it suffocated him, drowning out the very quality that made him special. Instead of taking a stand against those in his party and drawing in 'the independents' he went to the Right and scared the middle into the arms of the Democrats.

My concerns about an Obama presidency lie not with Obama...but with all the other Liberals who now dominate the Senate and Congress. It is THEY who will be truly shaping what the future looks like... and I am afraid of them, their policy choices and their special interests. All will be lined up and ready to take their piece of the American pie now that they have their grip on the levers of power solidified.

It was my hope that the Government would remain divided, so that neither side would have total control and forcing compromise. It was a disaster when the Republicans controlled all three branches because nobody was there to keep them in check. I fear the same thing is about to happen again except this time the expectation is to grow the government...

I live in a place where people are glowing with pride and hope and love of their country at this moment... and it feels great. I wonder however what is running through the minds of those people who live elsewhere... places that want smaller government and lower taxes. Are they feeling this Obamatism as well?

I voted Libertarian this election. It happened when I looked down at the ballot and could not in good conscience vote for either McCain or Obama. It had been weighing on me how I could stay congruent with my beliefs and principles and go with either. So I decided on neither.

McCain had my vote until he picked Palin as his running mate...a political neophyte on the National stage was a foolish and dangerous choice for an old man to make. Plenty of talented, centrist women would have helped his case, filled out his resume, given him more depth in Economics, and drawn in the middle. Instead he 'went with his gut' and came up short.

My hope is that Obama will stand up to the Liberal left now that he has the job...however his record in that department is sorely lacking. He has voted in lockstep with his party on every issue up till this point, never taking a hard stand or breaking from Liberal orthodoxy.
There are a long list of favors that must now be payed back...to Unions, the anti war crowd, the environmentalists and they will want it NOW.

I am a believer in Capitalism... let people work and enjoy the rewards of that work. Capitalism has raised more people out of poverty than any other of mans inventions, policies or ideas. These past few months have stained the idea of capitalism. There is a populist backlash against "those Wall Street fat cats" and blame is getting heaped on anybody who believes in letting the markets do their work. My fear is that the Liberals will use this fear and anxiety to push through their Big Government agenda of income redistribution and regulation and we will be suffering under it for the next 30 years while the rest of the industrialized world continues to lower their taxes and create a more hospitable environment for work and entrepreneurship.

When I say this, it doesn't mean that I agree with how the Republicans have run things for the past 8 years... I feel that the politicians in Washington have been an embarrassment to our fine country and the citizens they should be representing. Instead of the political infighting and horrors that they have wrought they should be leading by example.

What kid grows up today and wants to be a politician? What good examples are there of decent, hardworking, community minded politicians looking out for the common good...the good of "all" instead of their narrow interest groups. The only one I know is my mom.

Leaders step up and make hard choices... Great leaders galvanize those that are being led to become more than the sum of their parts. They make you feel good about doing hard things, they give you pride in what is being accomplished and created even when it hurts.

I am hoping that Obama will be a Great leader and forge this country into one powerful and cohesive unit that will face the future together.

I am Proud of our country. I want us to be Proud of each other.

People wanted change and now they will have it.

I hope it is the change they thought it would be.


Durand

A hopeful Conservative in our newly Liberal country