It’s a great relief that Barack Obama has won the US election and we can begin the honeymoon now.
I’ve been following the campaign for the last year. Personally, I had originally wanted Hilary Clinton to win despite the dynastic issue. She had experience and balls and would be very capable. You knew what you were getting with Hillary. Once it came down to just Obama and McCain, I was inclined to side with McCain as I wasn’t impressed with Obama’s expensive policies and interventionist inclinations. He could talk but so what? He just didn’t seem to have a lot of substance. McCain had experience and enough chutzpah to not always toe his party’s line. The person in the top job needs experience and balls.
I finally switched to Obama when the candidates chose their running mates for vice-president. Obama made an excellent choice. McCain made a terrible choice. The thought that Sarah Palin might be required to act as president was just too scarey. But worse, it showed a bad decision making process and it made McCain look unreliable.
So I’m glad Obama has won and it’s a novelty to see a politician with rock-star status. I’m hopeful but skeptical. He has a fantastic political mandate for change but the expectation that he will put right the world is just too much and I don’t expect the honeymoon will last long.
At least the neo-cons are on their way out the door and I really look forward to reading about the shutdown of Guantanamo Bay. That symbolic event will demonstrate closing the book on Bush-era policies.
