Thursday, November 13, 2008

I'm slow, but here goes.

President-Elect Obama.

Sounds ok. I sort of like it. Here comes the real challenge. Americans took a major chance. I'm an Obama fan, so I feel like I have the right to say this.

#1 - This election came down to the voter's risk tolerance profile. Obama was a major risk, but he also offered a major reward. The level of dissatisfaction with the current administration, combined with the bleak direction the country appears to be taking, lead to a higher risk tolerance among voters. With all the negative questions about Obama and his personal history, one would think that this election would have been a McCain landslide. On paper, maybe it should have been. Until you factor in both Obama's personal charisma and the horrific job the GOP has done for the last 8 years. Then the risk is worth the potential reward.

#2 - Entirely too much was made of Obama's race. Young people (under 35 or so) DO NOT CARE! There are, of course, exceptions, but by and large the youth of America is exactly that - the youth of the UNITED States of America. And outside of the south, general population doesn't care either. From my personal perspective, the guy could be a martian, and if he could fix the f*cking mess that Bush has created, I'd vote for him. And I think most of America sees it that way too. Unfortunately, the black community is where most of the doubt about him being elected came from. They, still, think that this country is more racist then it is. I'm not saying racism doesn't exist, but to hear some of the black people I know tell it, they can't get a job at McDonald's thanks to the white man. And I also know black people who are extremely successful, who would tell you how ridiculous that attitude is. In fact, almost every black person I know who takes responsabilty for themseleves is very successful. The ones who blame others, aren't. Hmmm...Correlation?

#3 - Why are people so offended by the world's interest in our election? Yes, Spain ignored soccer for a few hours to watch our election results. Isn't that a complement? We ARE the largest, most powerful country on Earth, and as we go, so goes the world. They recognize that, and pay attention accordingly. Where is the problem?

Just a few thoughts. Please, pissed off people, feel free to tell me what a fool I am. Or stop and think and you might agree.

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