The official President Obama thread

[Dodece]

First I would like to congratulate Barack Obama on becoming the president elect, and his running mate Biden for becoming vice president elect. I am supremely proud that I was up before the break of dawn standing in a line in the great state of Ohio. The victory is always won in Ohio, or defeat sewn in Ohio. The state is always that emblematic in presidential races. So when I saw the first returns coming in, and Obama was ahead I could tell the race was going to be a landslide.

I think the country really chose the better candidate, and everyone should be excited where ever they fell on the issues. The reason is simple we have had eight years of apathy, and now we will have a president that will bring energy, and will push a positive agenda. We know we need better education, environmental, energy, and economic policies.

For those saying well what is the lesson here it wasn't the economic meltdown. That just helped push Obama well over the top. Neither was it the wars, or the poor foreign policy, or the human rights violations, or even the political battles. The lesson is what the Republican party really has to contend with over the next four years, and they have yet to actually grasp this. The answer is not the likes of Palin.

The lesson is this the more extremist a party becomes the less successful it will be. The Republican party has remained predicated upon poor fundamentals. The party has become a bastion for religious fundamentalism, bigotry, hawkishness, and fear mongering. All of which played front stage in all the races yesterday. The more they focus their ideology the less room they leave for inclusiveness. The core constituency of the Republican party is no longer sufficient, and their stances make it nearly impossible to court new voting blocks.

For instance while watching election coverage I was repelled by a senate race in North Carolina where the Republican Candidate attacked their opponent by claiming she was godless. That was an incredibly bigoted remark, and the candidate thought nothing of using that. Further more you saw not a single Republican denounce that remark. Think about that according to the Republican party those that are not religious, and more to the point Christian are viewed as deviants.

How are you going to court other voting blocks if your position is that they are fundamentally perverted. How can you smack someone in the face, and then ask for their support. You cannot and if most of the electorate is not narrow minded your probably not going to do yourself any favors either. Which is what is happening the electorate is becoming more open minded, more diverse, and does not work solely off an ideological spread sheet.

I do not think the Republican party is gone, but they will need to become more representative of the country as a whole. They are geographically locking themselves, and the dynamic population is moving. They hold their stance without radical reinvention, and come four years they could very well push themselves into oblivion. The Democrats are literally ten senate seats from complete dominance in the United States senate. Once that happens the party is over.

The lesson the Republican Party should learn is not the lesson they are apparently learning. They are still thinking in terms of shoring up a dwindling base. When they need to be thinking how they can change on their stances to bring in new bases. I would really like to see a Republican party in four years that is not obsessed with abortions, assisted suicide, gay marriage, and pushing a religious agenda. That cannot be what they are moving forward. They need to have real governmental philosophy.