Obama-nation

I ceratainly see Obama's election to the presidency of the U.S. is historic.  I don't consider myself a fan of Obama, but as I stated earlier, I will give him a chance.  My differences with him are largely philosophical, but I like him personally.  Most of my gripes deal with the public image and deification of Obama.  This clip is from Gene Healy of the Cato Institute and he's expressing himself right after Obama was declared the winner.  I do agree with him in some ways, though I do think that he comes across as too cynical.  I want to live with as little government involvement in my life as possible.  I don't like The way that Healy basically roots for Obama's failure as a president.

I have mixed feelings.  I don't want the government follow the track it's been on for the last 8 years for sure.  I hope that Obama can do some good things to correct that and at least restore some dignity to the Office of the President.  Obama comes across as a person who is willing to listen and to learn.  He does have the chance to be this era's Abraham Lincoln.  As Dan Carlin states on this edition of his podcast (follow the link - it's about an hour, but it's really good), Obama will be tempted by the powers that Mr. Bush is leaving him.  The question is whether he can keep his nose clean.  I'd really admire the guy if one of the first things he did in office was to undue the Bush policies of wiretapping and such.  I do think that Obama has to be an extraordinary president.  It won't be enough to be better than Bush.  Homer Simpson could do that with a can of Duff Beer in his hand.

The most important thing about Obama winning the White House is the mental barrier that's been torn down.  He's the first legitimate black candidate to ever run for the presidency.  I don't think it taking so long is a just result of racism, maybe more a hangover from previous years of racism.  I think that it boils down to him being a candidate who appealed to more than just one segment of the population.  I don't think it would have worked in the '70's or '80's, but I think the '90's could have seen a black president, had the right person came a long.  It's easy to have a long list of white presidents, when they are virtually the only ones who run.  The mental barrier that Obama may have broken I think opens the door for people of other races to run.  There's already talk of the Louisiana governor running in 2012, who happens to be of Indian descent.  It may be a little gimmicky at this point, but I think it's good that this is happening.

Obama's victory, plus Hillary's campaign, changed things for women as well.  Sarah Palin could have backed things up a little bit.  The field is more open for women, though I still think that it will be harder for a woman in this country than for a black man.  I think it requires more of a paradigm shift, because of the way that our political system runs.  Hillary's run does show though that's it's not just a pipe dream, as much as I dislike her (maybe I did a little too much Rush in the early '90's).