Sixty-Six Oh Eight

While support for Obama increased to a majority of Americans voting for him in the election, it is crucial for Obama to not only maintain this support, but also to gain the support of Republicans who strongly favored John McCain. Although the split between supporters is not as evenly divided as in the Bush/Kerry election, Obama must attempt to get these conservatives to at least accept his new position as president of the United States.

In an article written in the New York Times, Obama pledges that there will be Republicans appointed to the cabinet. He thinks that doing so would provide him a “team of rivals.” Appointing at least one Republican to the cabinet is also Obama’s way of trying to follow the example set by the 16^th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Obama speaks of Lincoln’s approach as having “a wisdom there and a humility about his approach to government, even before he was president, that [Obama] just find[s] very helpful.” How will this decision affect Obama’s popularity amongst Americans? Well honestly, it seems that there is very little that Obama could do at the moment to lose the support of those who voted for him in the election, so most likely this decision will just help to win over some more Republican support.

Obama is aware of the challenges that lie before him. Not only is Obama entering office with a divided country, but also a country facing many problems socially and economically. Supposedly he is ready to take on this challenge stating, “I will say that the challenges that we’re confronting are enormous And they’re multiple And so there are times during the course of a given a day where you think, ‘Where do I start in terms of moving, moving things forward?’ And I think that part of this next two months is to really get a clear set of priorities, understanding we’re not going be able to do everything at once, making sure the team is in place, and moving forward in a very deliberate way and sending a clear signal to the American people that we’re going to be thinking about them and what they’re going through.” While this answer is slightly vague and does not provide a direct solution, clearly a majority of Americans trust his judgment and believe he will be able to pull America out of the current times of turmoil. Whether he can actually accomplish this task, however, is a mystery left to be revealed within the next four years.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/obama-pledges-to-appoint-republican-to-cabinet/

Recently, President-elect Barack Obama discussed in a “60 Minutes” interview that he was not planning to only select Democrats as members of his cabinet. He hinted that he would appoint a “team of rivals,” meaning his appointees would include Republicans. This notion stemmed from Obama’s seeming admiration of Abraham Lincoln, calling him a “very wise man”.

This news should be relieving to Republicans in the United States who feared a complete Democratic takeover in federal government. Many people feared that the election of Obama/Biden would lead to a government without any checks and balances because all that surrounded the President and had any control over policy would be Democrats. Obama’s decision to appoint members of both Republican and Democratic affiliation shows his desire to do what’s best for the nation as a whole, not only for those who support him and his ideas. It shows how hard Obama is trying to gain the support of Republicans and unite our nation. It’s so exciting that we will have a President in the White House who is trying to appeal to and appease all of our nation, not give way to members of specific ideologies or groups. It’s really refreshing in a government whose members make many of their decisions based on individual preferences or policies that would be better for their local supporters, as opposed to making decisions that are in the best interest of the country as a whole. I think Obama’s decision is a good sign for the future of our government and sets a good example for Congress.

Throughout the course of the election, Obama made many promises to the public about change and being different from Bush. He campaigned for tax cuts for the middle class and promised to enact them. However, Obama didn’t realize the enormous walls he was up against. Now that the national deficit has increased towards $1 trillion and the unemployment continues to increase, he’s starting to realize that before those promises are kept, he must do something that is best for the entire nation, in the current economic crisis they are faced with. Obama must first solve the giant issue which was created before he took office, cleaning up the mess of the presidency before him.

Because there is such a financial crisis, Obama as president is now responsible for solving it. He will be unable to provide the significant tax cuts he promised at this time because those plans were made before they were aware of the situation they would now be in. While it’s understanding that people are ready to see the change Obama has been preaching as the major component of his campaign, I hope the public can understand the crisis we are in and the dire need of Obama to first handle that situation before moving on to the changes he plans to and will make. I hope the public can realize that significant change will not and cannot happen as quickly as they like, and may not even be possible in Obama’s presidency. I fear former Obama supporters may begin turning against him when they don’t see the enormous change they want, not understanding that he must first set the stage for this change to happen.

News has recently surfaced regarding a relative of Senator Obama’s. Apparently a Kenyan aunt of his, Zeituni Onyango, has been living in the United States illegally, ever since her appeal for political asylum was rejected in 2004. Of course news of this has been released just days before election day, implying that motives of this leak were political and meant only to harm Obama’s campaign and chances of winning the Presidential election. Obama and his aides claim that he was unaware of his aunt’s illegal status in the country. Accusations that he knew otherwise are ridiculous and poorly based at best. Ms. Onyango is one of many relatives of Senator Obama’s that he has had hardly any contact with throughout his life.

It seems silly to me that this issue has even been brought to light, especially just 72 hours before the election. When news of Sarah Palin’s unwed, teenage daughter’s pregnancy was released, Republicans came down hard on those who used this as judgment of Palin’s ability in politics. The same can be same for this issue regarding Senator Obama. How this relative, whom he did not meet until adulthood and barely had contact with, is relevant to the current campaign is completely beyond me. Why the desperate need to find anything to tear down Obama? I wonder the political affiliation of the person who leaked the confidential status regarding Ms. Onyango.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/us/politics/02campaign.html?ref=politics

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7704052.stm

With only days left before the election, John McCain and Sarah Palin redirect their focus towards Pennsylvania in the hope that their efforts might cause the typically Democratic state to go Republican. In a state where democrats outnumber republicans by 1.2 million, the chance of the republicans winning seems unlikely, but McCain still remains hopeful. Since the Democrats strongly supported Hillary Clinton in the state’s primaries, it may be easier for the Republicans to win over these supporters.

With McCain now fighting to win swing states, an article in the Washington Post says winning Pennsylvania could seal the victory for him. Senator Joseph Lieberman and Lynn Forester de Rothschild, originally main contributors to Clinton’s campaign, plan to speak to Democrats to try to gain support for McCain. In the words of Rothschild, “I think Pennsylvania could be a big surprise to the conventional thought in the Democratic party. Pennsylvania is a conservative Democratic state, and John McCain can win it. We are targeting independents and Democrats, and they’re just not comfortable with Barack Obama’s plan for America, because it’s outside of the mainstream…The election could turn right here.” This election seems to be causing many voters to vote differently than in the past. Some republicans support Obama and likewise, some democrats support McCain. It is interesting however that top supporters for Hillary Clinton now support Obama, and they’re not the only ones.

In South Carolina, volunteer Joe White has never campaigned for a presidential candidate. This year, however, more and more volunteers seem to be trying to rally support behind their candidate of choice, and White’s no exception. He traveled to Pennsylvania last week and went door-to-door trying to gain support for McCain. He says, “You’d be surprised how many people I’ve already talked to around here who said they just won’t vote for Obama. I’m telling you, there’s a whole community of us.” Mitch Hagmaier, a registered Democrat who now supports McCain, also says of Pennsylvania “It’s striking how many registered Democrats are here or working in the [Republican] office. We’re starting to get some momentum going our way. With Palin coming here, and this crowd, you can feel it starting to turn.”

It is remarkable that a state that voted Democrat for the past twenty years may now go Republican, and it should make people wonder what’s changed. With Obama gaining increasing support in states that typically always go republican, this presidential race could easily go either way. McCain possibly winning Pennsylvania also means the chance of winning twenty-one electoral votes, which could cement his victory. White likes to remind himself that “it’s not over until the fat lady sings,” and in a few days this unconventional race for America’s next president will finally reach the finish line.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/31/AR2008103104022.html?nav=rss_print/asection&sid=ST2008103103910&s_pos=