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Election 2008 – Postscripts!
Guest Column | By Walter Anderson | November 19, 2008
Just two weeks ago, the election was held after almost 18 months of campaigning, advertising, appearances, and non-stop newspaper and television coverage of the candidates during the primaries and the general election. Barack H. Obama is now President-elect Obama. John McCain went back to Phoenix, and Sarah Palin went back to Alaska. One would think that the excitement level would start to calm down.
It’s hardly calmed down! Charges of racism are still put forth in the news, especially the Internet. The hatred for President Bush and his administration is still very much alive, and possibly more so now as there is a renewed call for his impeachment. Don’t forget the continued discussion about John McCain was too old to be President and the cheap shots against Sarah Palin, both from her opponents on the Left and from within the McCain campaign itself. Sarah Palin has denied the anonymous allegations, calling those who leaked the false and degrading statements immature, unprofessional jerks. I agree. I also think the RNC should investigate this, publish the names of those staffers who have made the accusations and they should be terminated and banished from working on any Republican campaigns in the future.
Speaking of Sarah Palin…
Election 2008 may be over but the enthusiasm Sarah Palin created in the McCain campaign lives on, at least for her. Palin has a number of followers on the Internet who have basically vowed to keep her in the public eye and are pushing at this early date (Obama isn’t even in office for another 62 days) for Palin to be on the ticket in 2012 – either as President or Vice President. This lady from Alaska won the hearts and the respect of many conservatives and sensible Republicans and it appears they will not let her go. It certainly appears that we will continue to see Palin in the forefront of the national political scene and thus far, she has not ruled out a 2012 run. In order to enhance opinion of the public in these days following the election and the onslaught of accusations mentioned earlier, she has made numerous appearances on television talk shows, including interviews with NBC’s Matt Lauer and Fox News’ Greta Van Sustern where, in my opinion, has easily held her own in answer to the questions thrown at her and put down the accusations for what they are; allegations without merit!
Obama’s New Job
On January 20, 2009, Barack H. Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th President of The United States of America. I recently read that the Secret Service has given him the code name “Renegade.” Does it mean rebel?
Obama has a difficult road ahead of him in deciding which area of his campaign promises needs to be addressed first. It would seem the economy would be his primary concern which does encompass several areas he campaigned for reform in. Then there are taxes, healthcare, global warming, education, foreign affairs and a host of others – not forgetting, of course, his promises to end the Iraq War. I would not want to be in his position as he will be under scrutiny from the beginning for everything he does and especially for what he doesn’t do.
He has started to choose his staff positions, beginning with Congressman Rahm Emmanuel (D-IL) as his White House Chief of Staff. The Chicago Sun Times referred to Emmanuel as Obama’s “enforcer,” an appropriate title. Emmanuel is a product of the Chicago Democratic Political Machine who, with the help of Bill Daley, was placed in the Clinton White House. He was also instrumental in getting Nancy Pelosi the position of Speaker of The House. There will be more on Emmanuel in the near future. One of Obama’s advisors is none other than David Axelrod, the mastermind of his election campaign, another crony from Chicago who has been a political advisor in many political campaigns (Rahm Emmanuel is one of his clients) and many special interest groups and businesses. It’s interesting to note that Axelrod is a former political reporter for the Chicago Tribune, a conservative newspaper that changed its stripes and jumped in for Obama 100%. Bill Daley, brother of Richard M. Daley, Mayor of Chicago and the head of the Chicago Democrat Political Machine, is in position as a staff advisor as is Patti Solis Doyle, another product of Chicago who was a Bill Clinton staffer and later an advisor to Hillary Clinton in her bid for the nomination. Doyle is also rumored to be a candidate for a cabinet position.
It also appears another Chicagoan has found a home in the Obama White – Valerie Jarrett, Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Daley, the person who hired Michelle Obama in the law firm she worked at in Chicago. Jarret is also a former Chair of the Chicago Transit Authority and the current co-chair of Obama’s transition team. He has also tapped former Secretary of State under Clinton, Warren Christopher, for an as-yet unnamed staff post as of this writing. With Obama’s heavy reliance on former Clinton people and his Chicago past following him, his so-called pledge for a bipartisan staff has not yet seen the light of day. I will continue to report on Obama’s political appointees as they are announced.
One of the areas that Obama mentioned frequently during the campaign was an immediate review of the Executive Orders from the Bush Administration. It has recently been reported that he has charged nearly 40 staffers with reviewing the orders and if they don’t meet his (Obama’s) agenda, they will either be modified or repealed. Some of the orders are fairly irrelevant to most of us but there are some that will come to the forefront such as oil drilling, federally-funded stem cell research and the detention center at Guantanamo Bay (a/k/a Gitmo). The ACLU has an ongoing campaign to lobby for the closure of Gitmo and according to UPI, has vowed to spend half a million dollars on ads promoting it. Obama recently stated that one of his first duties as President will be to close Gitmo. I guess the ACLU pressure must have worked already.
Obama’s election to the Presidency has also left the Governor of Illinois with the chore of filling Obama’s Senate seat. This must be done with care, as Chicago seems to think it would be best if Obama were replaced by another black to complete his term to 2010. Gov. Blagojevich is not held in high esteem by the voters of Illinois (his approval rating was 9% last month) and not by most members of the Democrat Party. There have been a number of names of prominent Democrats mentioned, including Jesse Jackson Jr., Danny Davis, Emil Jones, Tammy Duckworth, Dan Seals, and U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez, a close ally of the governor. The other U.S. Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, has stated “I’d like him (Blagojevich) pick somebody who can really help me out and help out state.” That is just like Sen. Durbin to put himself first and the people of the State of Illinois second! It seems no matter what Blagojevich does, he will upset somebody.
President-elect Obama’s “acquaintance,” Bill Ayers, does not seem to be slinking away quietly. In fact, he seems to be reveling in his newfound ability (permission?) to speak freely. He was interviewed on Good Morning America last week, was mentioned in several newspapers as saying he and his wife Bernardine Dohrn are “family friends” of the Obamas, and gave two speeches in Washington. Interestingly, this self-professed anti-capitalist has reissued his memoir Fugitive Days, in which he brags about setting bombs in police stations and the Pentagon. He and his wife also have another book due out in February. Cha-ching!
There has been much talk about why Barack Obama won over John McCain. I suppose some of it may have merit, including this: Obama had mountains of support from the media, both newspaper and television. McCain did not enjoy that support in sufficient amount. McCain was often characterized as being a “third George W. Bush” and, while far from being true, people, in their disdain for the Bush Administration took it as gospel. Obama’s campaign was also much better organized than McCain’s and his fundraising was a fine tuned machine by comparison. Money was one thing that, without question, had a big part in the victory. The old saying that the candidate with the most cash wins was certainly true in this case.
McCain’s advanced age was a negative with some people who thought that Obama’s relative youth would overshadow his obvious lack of experience. Some were also afraid that McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as Vice President was a poor choice in case something should happen to McCain. I take issue with that, seeing as Palin’s executive experience and knowledge most likely would be a greater benefit than that of the bumbling Joe Biden.
Finally, the Republican Party and John McCain themselves were major causes for the loss to Obama because the party overall did not support McCain/Palin the way they should have from the beginning. There was no party level push and excitement during the race. I saw very few RNC-funded ads appear until just before the end. McCain’s campaign was flat, uninteresting, and almost boring from the primaries all the way through to the time he announced Palin as his VP pick. She gave the campaign a much-needed boost, but she couldn’t carry it alone and the excitement she created in the campaign was all but gone by November 4th. The “brand” of the party has suffered badly and I do not believe it is all the fault of George W. Bush. If the Republicans ever hope to regain stature in Washington, I think the first thing they should do is get rid of the “good old boy network” – both those running the party and in office in Washington, D.C. The second thing is get competent and respectable people in positions of office and in the party administration who have conservative core ideals.
Until next time…
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Walter Anderson is a grassroots political activist, researcher, and commentator who focuses on family issues and politics.
Guest columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Accuracy in Media or its staff.
5 Comments | Post a Comment
A completed election doesn’t stop the extremist rabblerousers at both ends of the political spectrum from doing their thing - and talk radio for the GOPs and the internet for the DEMs are the respective sources of the rabblerousers fuel. It’s all about creating controversy (and viewership, listnership or readership) and a continuous and very personalized ragging (regardless of how specious or estoteric) on the designated targets on the other side - usually for money!
Personally, I believe this constant “us against them” sniping, spouting and spewing has significantly diminished the quality of government in this country, especially over the last dozen-to-fifteen years.
And, I MOST HEARTILY AGREE with the following, taken from Obama’s election night speech in Grant Park, Chicago:
“Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long!”
“Poison”. A good word for it. Partisan political poison.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long!”
TK give me a break. Obama is one of the most partisan people on the planet. He has never tried in his life to work with anyone on the other side contrary to his him and the media bragging about how he has all the time. And as stated above, everyone he is selecting is so incredibly partisan that it is unbelievable. So when is Obama going to resist the temptation. Never because he is one of the most partisan people on the planet. So do a little studying before you start talking about pettiness and immaturity.
“Obama’s voting record on second amendment rights was deplorable.”
How so? Examples? Citations?
Richard Rhodes, Post 3;
I hate EXTREMIST, ideological partisanship, whether from the far left or the far right.
BUT - at this, one of the most critical junctures in our history, it only makes sense for the thinking person to hold their horses and give whomever is in charge (and his chosen associates) a chance to fix the mess. (Besides, there’s not a damned thing you can do about it, anyway, except aimlessly bitch and moan, for the next four years.)
If a presidential administration is successful - we’re ALL successful! (And, conversely, as is NOW the case, when an administration has been totally unsuccessful - we ALL suffer.)
I’m going to give the guy the benefit of the doubt and plenty of time to prove he’s not petty, immature, or a “poisoned” partisan - as have been far too many politicians of late!
Lincoln was initially thought of in the same way you’re choosing to describe Obama - so - we’ll see!
November 20 at 12:32 pm | #1 | Link
I think one source of support McCain didn’t purse were the people strong on the “Second Amendment”. Obama’s voting record on second amendment rights was deplorable.