Tuesday, November 04, 2008
My hopes and fears
I hope that John McCain wins tonight. If he does, I fear that his victory comes in a slim Electoral College majority hinged on narrow results in a single state. We should all pray that Ohio is not "Florida" with race thrown in.
I fear that the Democrats build their majority in the United States Senate to 60. I hope that if that happens Joe Lieberman switches parties. That would be extremely poetic.
I hope that the Obama/Pelosi/Reid government is not as bad for business and good for lawyers as I fear it will be.
I hope that Barack Obama does not mean what he says about corporate executives. If so, I fear that he will enact Barney Frank's various proposals to make my professional life miserable.
I fear that we will be overrun by lawyers. A dominating Democratic majority will not only result in massive benefits to lawyers of all sorts -- trial lawyers, labor lawyers, and regulatory lawyers in the fore -- but it will mark the return of the cognitive style of lawyers to the White House and cabinet. This is especially troubling in the conduct of foreign policy.
I fear that Barack Obama means what he says about energy policy, because if he succeeds in enacting the program he has proposed, Americans will not live nearly so well for a generation or more. But our grandchildren should be able to eat Adirondack fish, so that will be an upside.
I hope and fear that Barack Obama has destroyed campaign finance regulation in this country for a generation. I hope it, because the McCain-Feingold law ought to be struck down as an unconstitutional. I fear it, because we have learned from the Obama campaign's exploitation of the small donor loophole that current law has destroyed transparency in campaign finance. That allows foreigners to finance American elections without Americans knowing it.
I hope, if Obama wins, that we do enjoy some significant change in race relations in this country. Many conservatives argue that the result will likely be the opposite, but I do not agree. I hope that an Obama White House will realize that its best political interest lies in vocally denying that race is the cause of this, that, or the other social problem. Of course, I fear the opposite.
I fear we will learn who Barack Obama's friends are. Who will be the Webster Hubbell and Vince Foster of the Obama administration?
I hope that Americans come to understand that David Axelrod is Karl Rove on speed.
I fear that Joe Biden is right in his prediction that our enemies will test the new administration. I hope the new president exceeds my expectations.
Regardless of which ticket wins today, I hope that the president lives for at least four more years, and not just because I am filled with the milk of human kindness. Neither running mate is ready to be president, and Joe Biden never will be.
If Obama wins, I hope that we do see a surge of support for the United States around the world, as the transnational progressives expect. "Soft power" in its various forms does indeed serve the United States, because it is easier for foreign leaders to support us if their people have a positive view toward us. I fear, however, that the Obama administration will view international popularity as an end, rather than a means, and confuse the approval of foreign elites for the respect of the foreign masses.
I hope that the Republicans get a clue. Among the various clues I hope they get, I hope that they learn that there is a difference between opposition to elite sensibilities and tastes and anti-intellectualism. The former is fine, the latter is destructive. Go to NASCAR races, hunt, play lawn darts, drink beer, mock modern art, deplore political correctness, and admire serious book learning all at once. There has been too much of the former and not enough of the latter in this election cycle.
I hope that blog traffic remains at the high levels of recent months. But not that much. We could all do to get back to real work.
I hope that regardless of the outcome today, Americans end their attempts to delegitimize the opposition. Today's winner will be my president. His actions will be in my name. I will stand up when, as is inevitable, foreign people make fun of him or denounce him. And, when I disagree with him, I will argue against him on this blog with the few talents at my disposal.
Please post your own hopes and fears in the comments.
21 Comments:
By 
smitty1e, at
Tue Nov 04, 09:36:00 AM:
Then again, a Socialist Winter could set up a Capitalist Spring.
If the corporate 'we' gives the Left enough rope to shoot us in the foot, who are we to mix metaphors?
By GreenmanTim, at
Tue Nov 04, 10:13:00 AM:
I hope that the millions of newly registered voters who cast their votes today are energized by more than this single act, become better informed and better engaged citizens, and discover that an informed electorate is one of the best safeguards of our democracy.
I fear that many will slide back into apathy or let their hearts rule their heads.
By 
, at
Tue Nov 04, 10:25:00 AM:
I appreciate your thoughtfulness and candor, i love your blog
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 10:30:00 AM:
I fear that if Obama wins, we will hear from Michelle again.
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 10:59:00 AM:
I hope that racism is so busy causing dissent from Obama's agenda that it won't have time to cause anything else.
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 11:24:00 AM:
I, too, fear an Obama victory on a multitude of fronts. I, too, will try to show some class in accepting the will of the electorate and, to that end, promise not to place "He's not MY President" bumper stickers on my cars (like so many of my neighbors in the People's Republic of Oak Park have for the last 8 years).
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 11:58:00 AM:
My hopes are that Mr. McCain wins and wins with class. However, if Mr. Obama wins I hope that he becomes the greatest President the U.S. has ever had; because if he is then we will all be better off. I too, have already committed myself to getting behind him all the way, because he is our Commander in Chief. I refuse to allow myself to be as bitter as the many Lefties I know who could never objectively see the challenges that Mr. Bush went through and to give him even a shred of credit for anything. In short, I refuse to be Eyore for the next four years like the 49% of our population has been for the past eight years.
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 12:26:00 PM:
I'm on the side of fearing a McCain/Palin victory (especially as it would affect the Supreme Court), but I commend you on this post (especially as it relates to anti-intellectualism and delegitimizing the opposition). You lead by example on those last points, and this one patriotic lefty thanks you for that -- MCU
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 01:13:00 PM:
I hope come March I still have a job, I fear 25% cut in defense spending.
By CMT, at
Tue Nov 04, 01:35:00 PM:
I hope McCain wins and I fear and Obama Presidency.
I hope I haven’t wasted half my life working everyday and teaching my children the importance of a dollar earned for a day’s work. I fear that I have with the specter of an entitlement society ready to rear is ugly head.
I hope we maintain a vigilant and aggressive foreign policy to answer JFK’s call to “pay any price” and “bear any burden” in the defense of liberty (especially ours). I fear the new generation of Neville Chamberlains will be running the show.
I hope we remain a nation of laws that recognizes the will of the people and has a respect for people of faith. I fear we will drift towards secularism and legislate from the judicial bench.
I hope we balance federal budgets through cost controls, efficiency and an active private sector. I fear more wasteful “pork,” higher tax burdens on working families, and more handouts.
I hope the MSM wakes up tomorrow with a hangover and takes a hard look at how they have compromised their journalistic integrity for the promotion of an individual and ideology instead of what their profession demands - an impartial aggregation of facts in a cohesive storyline that is informative and meaningful. I fear that they will become either emboldened or embittered and lose all sense of objectivity and spiral out of control
I hope that in 2012 we will see conservatism rebound - promoting individual responsibility, limited government, and more fiscal restraint. I fear that with so many suckling fro the government teat it will next to impossible to wean people away from it.
I hope McCain wins. I fear what comes if he does not.
By Catchy Pseudonym, at
Tue Nov 04, 02:02:00 PM:
I fear alien invasion, but hope our time in servitude as host bodies passes nicely.
I fear global tepidness. Not too hot, not too cold, but just the right temperature to make me want to pee all the time.
I hope for fear and fear for hope so that when hope comes, my fear will be that I hoped too much or feared to little. At least that's my hope.
I hope that Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin physically merge into one 10-foot-tall Super-President named Obaden McPalin who battles our enemies with Kung Fu but must fly to the sun to recharge its batteries. That would imply that this Super-President would be carbon free.
Seriously, am I really asking for that much.
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 04:00:00 PM:
I hope that Garcia Vega makes better cigars so the Tigerhawk doesn't have to suffer too much next Nov. 1 when he honors his grand old man again.
I too, hope that Barack Obama does a great job as President, so the whole country prospers, even though I voted for John McCain.
I fear that Catchy Pseudonym has indeed asked for too much, and that California will have a popular amendment passed to prevent 10-ft tall, solar powered super politicians from holding more than one term in office.
By Dawnfire82, at
Tue Nov 04, 04:21:00 PM:
God damned Californians...
I hope that I never have to live in California again. I fear that a President Obama will be ridden over by a radical Congress, drunk with power.
By The Machiavellian, at
Tue Nov 04, 04:45:00 PM:
anti-intellectualism?
Does that mean we can't look for leadership outside of Yale and Princeton?
The self appointed intelligentsia of the Republican Party is part of the problem.
Big tent aspirations that supported such issues as legalizing illegal behavior (immigration) and the Medicare drug program....
And what does that get Republicans? Support from Democrats? Support from Hispanics?
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 06:24:00 PM:
By The road less traveled, at
Tue Nov 04, 06:30:00 PM:
I hope everyone will email or call several media outlets, such as CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, LA Times, Time, Newsweek, etc. and let them know they are ending their subscriptions, or will stop reading their publications due to their violation of the public trust in this election. Journalists are supposed to be objective observers and remain neutral. For me, I'm resolving to get ALL my news from the internet from now on. I don't care if print media goes the way of the dinosaur. I am totally disgusted.
I hope McCain wins. Our democracy needs a person like him in charge.
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 06:44:00 PM:
I had a BIG wakeup call last night. Went to the Obama rally in Manassas. Took an hour to get into the fairgrounds, huge crowds, tight security. BUT: the people there were not your horse show crowd. Big families, high proportion of black people, many picnickers. What blew me away was I have not seen an atmosphere like this since JFK (sorry, Jack). Absolutely joyful, effervescent, friendly, hopeful, and very reactive to the band and cheerleaders. We all actually held hands with all nearby folks, no discernible different attitudes to me from blacks--like we was all brothers for a change.
I think we witnessed something very new for the USA, and it won't quit easily. So suck it up and expect some real culture changes here!! Uncle Tom
By Dawnfire82, at
Tue Nov 04, 08:04:00 PM:
"So suck it up and expect some real culture changes here!! "
That's what freaks people out about Obamaniacs... the threat of forcing cultural change down their throats.
By Jeremy, at
Tue Nov 04, 09:50:00 PM:
I fear that this country that I love and have been proud of, will be turned into Canada.
By IrishCicero, at
Tue Nov 04, 10:27:00 PM:
Great observations, TH. Hope you're optimistic expectations work out.
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 10:34:00 PM:
I' too old to have much hope.
I was disappointed but hopeful when Carter won. I can't be bothered this time. The next 4 years are going to be a disaster. Whenever we have shown weakness, our enemies have advanced - I've seen the bodies.
What hope I have is based on the fact that Jimmy Carter led to Ronald Reagan. Bill Clinton led to the Republican Revolution.
Maybe BO will yield a better majority Republican party.
