I was driving to school, and listening to POTUS XM radio in my car, which features 24/7 politics. If you are a political junkie, this is another way to get your fix. One of the guests on the show referred to a woman who said now that Sen. Barack Obama is president-elect, she doesn’t have to worry about her mortgage or losing her job any longer.
This show is a moderate program, not your right-wing nutjob rant we can catch here on 950 AM on a daily basis, so they were nice, but of course their thinking was much like mine. So, I will share this breaking news with all of you who are a bit too in love with our new president-elect, for whom I voted – he is human.
Yes, I know this may come as a surprise to many of you out there who are thinking that now we will finally have peace on earth and goodwill toward all men. Yet, realistically, I have to share with you that President-elect Obama is not going to be able to get everything done that he wants to get done. The Republicans are already gearing up for 2012, and, believe me, they are counting on our newly-elected president to fail to deliver on some of the many either perceived or actual promises doled out during this 2-year bloodfest of an election cycle.
Yes, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee are both in Iowa this week, speaking to some interest groups, and it sounds like Gov. Sarah Palin isn’t far behind. Since Palin isn’t a real contender, I think we will see the former two listed candidates spending a lot of time canvassing states such as Iowa and New Hampshire and speaking at a great many engagements across the country for the next four years.
For all of the lofty, beautiful, and – must I remind you – ambiguous rhetoric that was spouted so eloquently in all of Obama’s speeches and debates, here is where we will see real politics at work in our nation. I am not trying to rain on your nirvana-like dream state, but the Republicans still maintain a large presence in the House of Representatives and the Democrats do not have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. It will be an uphill battle to get any substantive reform passed in regard to socialized health care or any other policy agenda with the exception of the economic crisis at hand.
Yes, the atmosphere of change is a great thing which I support and hope to aid in any way I can. However, President-elect Obama has a long way to go in getting his agenda through. He will have to tread lightly, pick his battles and work across the aisle in order to bring our late, great country out of the mess that we have gotten ourselves into.
There is hope and change in the air, and I pray that it is also in the not-too-far future. Since we don’t live in a perfect world, we will still have to deal with the politics of power, partisanship and the self-interest that inhabits and inhibits every one of us.
Delano, a political science and history senior, can be reached via [email protected]
