Congratulations to the US! »

FERDY CHRISTANT - NOV 5, 2008 (10:51:24 AM)

Congratulations to the US! IMHO, you did the right thing. You and the rest of the world deserve a leader that is intelligent, inspiring, fair, calm and open. One that has empathy with others, is able to build bridges and to do this with reason and humility.

It was with great fascination and disgust that I followed the elections for months. I have no idea whether "change" will be delivered or not, but out of the scenarios presented, this one leaves me hopeful and optimistic. There may be hope for humanity after all.

Let's get to work. There is much to fix.

General

Comments: 7

COMMENT: JEROSLAV

NOV 5, 2008 - 02:14:37 PM

comment » Dont know if congratulations are in order. Apparently all you need to do now is be charismatic to win a public office. Hopefully he can deliver what he promised. «

COMMENT: RICHARD SCHWARTZ

NOV 5, 2008 - 02:50:35 PM

comment » Thanks. Many of us worked very hard to bring this about. The thing that encourages me most of all is that this campaign brought young Americans back into the political process in huge numbers, after many years of apathy. It is good for democracy, good for our country, and it makes this (somewhat) older American very happy.

To Jeroslav: charisma helped, but it could not have been enough to bring such a decisive victory. Ideas mattered in this campaign. Intellect mattered in this campaign. Creating confidence that an Obama administration would draw in the best people, not just the ones who see the world precisely his way, mattered in this campaign. Seeing and speaking the truth mattered in this campaign. «

COMMENT: ANDREW POLLACK

NOV 5, 2008 - 03:05:34 PM

comment » @Jeroslav - As Americans, we went looking for a leader we could respect and trust in this election. Charisma alone isn't enough. I said from the start that these two men would give us the best choices of the lot from all those running in the primary. I stand by that. I just wish the world could have gotten to know the John McCain that has served his country well for many years, but who disappeared under a disgusting cynical party approach for the last year -- only to wake up and speak again last night in his concession speak. Either man would have been a huge step up. I believe the best man won, but by beating a less good one rather than a bad one. «

COMMENT: JEROSLAV

NOV 5, 2008 - 03:47:23 PM

comment » I respect your opinions. But disagree. There were many factors that came together to make this a decisive victory. One, was the painting of GWB as a the sole person responsible for all of Americas ills and associating McCain with GWB. Also to help bring such a decisive victory was the support of NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, CNN etc... If you get the media on your side, you will in effect, control the opinion of a portion of the population. I dont know that McCain would have been better or worse, but there are so many unknowns and lack of track record by Obama that I have concerns. However, it seems this is a positive step in terms of bringing the citizens of this country together. Which may be more important than how the country is run, as the country hasnt really had a good leader since Reagan. «

COMMENT: ANDREW POLLACK

NOV 5, 2008 - 06:08:24 PM

comment » @Jeroslav

I think there are enough things I directly lay at W's feet to not need to blame him for everything that's wrong. The man has an approval rating below 30% so clearly things haven't gone the way people wanted them to for him.

I don't buy the journalistic bias argument I've been hearing for 20 years. NBC, CBS, CNN, and ABC are biased in a single direction: Ratings.

At worse, they want to make money. They want "gotcha" stories. At best, they have journalistic integrity that drives them to poke hardest at those with power -- the current administration regardless of party.

I can think of two very biased media outlets off the top of my head. Comedy Central -- which is clearly pretty left leaning, and Fox News which is clearly pretty right leaning. Some put NPR on the left, but at least as far as their NEWS programs go I don't see that being the case. Their other shows, sure. Lots of content that's further left than average depending on which shows a station picks up. But not NPR News, Morning Report, or Markplace. The evening news at 6, and the morning news at 7 both tend to be pretty conservative in fact.

BTW: I include Comedy Central in "news" for the simple reason that The Daily Show has been show to be the source of news for more 18-25 year olds than any other source, and also has been rated as having more actual news content in its 30 minutes than the network broadcasts. Both are scary, but true. In fact, one of the people most appalled by this is Jon Stewart, who's been pretty public about it.

I do agree with you that this election result is more an indictment of the Bush Administration than it is an endorsement of the Democratic platform. Obama will need to watch his step and his own party to avoid over-reaching the way the Gingrich term republicans did a few years back. The American people don't like the pendulum to swing too far too fast.

On your last point, McCain got tied to Bush because, well, by party platform they stand for the same things. McCain took too much stage direction from other people and failed to be compelling. A shame, because he is in fact a compelling man. «

COMMENT: FERDY

NOV 5, 2008 - 07:29:58 PM

comment » Gents...interesting points from both sides, and thanks for keeping it respectful and open. I'm hoping this way of debating will as of now take place at the stage of world politics too. «

COMMENT: NICK

NOV 8, 2008 - 08:45:04 PM

comment » He may be most of the things listed above, but i just cant stand behind a person that would support things like partial birth abortion. Having 2 children of my own I can't imagine how any other respectful adult could make the killing of an innocent life a "choice". «