Sullivan: expectations may turn to tears
If, as the opinion polls and early voting figures suggest, Barack Obama wins the election on Tuesday, will Americans expect too much of their 44th president? Andrew Sullivan, writing in the Sunday Times today, says: "People expecting a messiah will at some point be forced to realise they have merely elected a president."
But, Sullivan argues, "no president will be able to wave the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan away with some kind of magic wand - there are few good options in either conflict, and many potential perils. No president will be able to end a recession with deep roots or alter market confidence in a single speech. No president can change the earth's climate in four or eight years. And when Obama's limitations emerge, as they will, there is a danger that the powerful expectations of his young base may turn to tears."
On the other hand, Obama has an unusual temperament on his side: his calm and moderation have been evident in the fight for the Democratic nomination with the Clintons, and in dealing with the campaign smears of the Republicans. "Obama seems unafraid of his enemies, undeterred by his rivals, and able somehow to stay healthy and cheerful," says Sullivan.
As for Obama's political instincts, Sullivan calls him a "mid-western centrist in his gut". John McCain and Sarah Palin and their cheerleaders in the media have done their best in recent days to paint a picture of their rival as a socialist. Wrong, argues Sullivan. "The right's biggest mistake has been to believe that Obama is a closet radical and that if they could expose that, they would win. Although Obama is a product of his generation and of academia, his proximity to the intellectual left does not seem to have affected his policies."
His health care plans are less leftist than the Republican Mitt Romney's in Massachusetts; he proposes tax cuts for 90 per cent of the American people; his climate change proposals are "tediously conventional" and he shares the foreign policy instincts of George Bush Snr. In short he is "a strange liberal who appears to get along famously with conservatives."
FIRST POSTED NOVEMBER 2, 2008
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"Expectation may turn to tears" ..Indeed they will if the expected results are to be totally opposite of the expectation. Listening to some coverage on T.V. this morning, I was totally perplexed to hear white women absolutely enthralled with Sarah Palin and their thinking that she would bring a new face to feminism in the White House. In a country where they do not know the difference between electing a president vs. a vice president, anything can happen. Most women voters were saying that they were being swayed towards Palin and in turn to McCain because they were torn between deciding as to who was more American..In other words, Obama is some alien and not possessing enough real American traits. It makes me wonder how deep racism amongst the Whites of America and how foolishly they decide " the decider " for them especially in view of the horrifying economic situation in the U.S. and the awful state of the American foreign policy. I guess the American populace has a streak of masochism and they will not back away from inflicting pain on others even if they have to work three jobs to pay the bills. The leaders have them well trained!!!
Posted by mashoud janjua at 3:50pm on November 2, 2008
Just once I wish you guys could tell the truth! My opinion of BO started changingl long before a word was said by either McCain or Palin and if you'll go back and recall....it was Obama's side that started the smears. He's nothing but a light weight and one with any common sense could see that after watching him for the first month of his campaign, which I did. If you can't report the truth, a new career might be a good suggestion....these misrepresentations are so boring it's beyond belief!
Posted by Mountain Man at 8:19pm on November 2, 2008
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