It’s great. It’s historic. Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey teared up on national TV. The first black American president.
He was my candidate. I’m glad he won. But…Now he’s stuck with the job.
And here comes my cold-water, wet-blanket, pessimistic post. Sorry. If you’re still feeling giddy with happiness, go somewhere else and don’t read this post until a few months have passed; I don’t want to rain on your parade.
I had a draft post entitled “the Janitor-in-Chief” (based on John Mauldin’s column, “Electing the Janitor-in-Chief“) which I never published, all about my (usual) dismal outlook on the economy, and the mess that the president-elect (whoever he might be) would inherit, and I’m afraid that my pleasure in Obama’s victory is highly tempered by that outlook.
It’s a mess. It’s a royal mess. I reiterate my prediction that the new president will be a one-termer. I hope not, but the economy is racing down the toilet, and there’s a helluva lot more bad economic news to come. Auto industry executives have been quoted as saying it’s the worst their industry has seen since World War II; Goldman Sach’s investors’ outlook note leaked today says that they’re revising their unemployment estimate upwards from 250,000 jobs lost in October to 300,000, and they expect it to keep getting worse; commercial real estate investment is drying up; the ISM factory index is the lowest it’s been since 1982; real personal spending–which fuels 70% of U.S. GDP–plummeted at an annual rate of 3.9% in the month of September; and on and on and on.
I’d love to think that the hearts and flowers and joy and luv-luv-luv will win over the 53 million people who voted for McCain, but given some things I’ve read on the ‘net today, and some things I’ve heard on boards and in emails, we’ve got a whole slew of people out there who think that Obama is a Marxist/Leninist/socialist/communist/jack-booted thug who is out to tear down the structure of the United States and RUIN US ALL.
(Hey, it’s the right-wing’s version of the liberals’ dreaded October Surprise, the staged terrorist attack that would give BushCo the excuse to call for martial law and suspend the elections…)
Yup, Barack Obama, who the lefties think isn’t left enough, is too moderate and centrist, is a communist thug. Sigh.
And I sit here thinking to myself: What?! Why on earth would anyone want the job? Why on earth didn’t we let McCain take it, and have him get stuck with the tar and feathers, the anger and frustration and disillusionment that will greet the upcoming years of cleaning up the mess that BushCo left us with?
Gah. Maybe I’m feeling like this because it’s November, and the light is vanishing fast, and it’s been cold as hell. Or because some folks who I really love and respect are taking this…um…not well.
(Edited to add: Okay. That’s it. The last. I was so excited. So happy. So thrilled. And realizing that intelligent, sensible people whom I know and love are scared just shocks me to the core and makes me want to cry. I see hope; they see fear and hatred. I see trying to change some of the gawd-awful stuff that BushCo has done; they see destruction. I see an intelligent, moderate, quiet man who will do his best to do a competent job; they see a Hitler-like demagogue. And I want to cry.)
Anyway, to read a better (less pessimistic) take that looks at the practicalities, go read John Scalzi’s post, “Reality Check“.
And really, truly, I’m very happy Obama won. I watched the speech and teared up. We made OmegaDotter watch with us, telling her it was a historic occasion that she would remember all her life. It’s amazing that the U.S. was able to actually vote–clearly and decisively (though not a landslide, as some would claim)–for a black man as president. Forty years ago, one would never have imagined this day.
