Looking Forward to President Obama

Categorized | Michael Callaway, politics

Tags | barak obama, john mccain, president obama, presidential race 2008

Looking Forward to President Obama

Posted on 29 May 2008 by Michael Callaway

I have been asked to envision what an Obama presidency would look like and to give my comment on that. Now, for those of you new to reading my column you may not be aware of this but I am a fairly loyal Republican and I love John McCain. In fact, John McCain is my number one friend on my myspace account even ahead of my wife (this is a short term thing I promise).

Of course, to envision an Obama presidency would mean that I must envision failure on my part to elect my President. I want you to think about asking the Greeks to envision what life would be like if the Trojans had actually won the Trojan war? Maybe ask the ancient citizens of Rome how they would feel if Hannibal had actually sacked their city? Even worse, why not ask Rick Allen, member of the greatest rock and roll band in the world, Def Leppard, how his life would be different if the band would have replaced him as the drummer after he lost his arm in the car accident?

This would be a question that they could not begin to answer because it would have completely disrupted the balance of the world that they knew. However, Michael Callaway can, no, he will, answer this question in a way that is both fair and biased.

First, what a President Obama will not be, he will not be some Islamic Manchurian candidate sent on a secrete mission to convert the United States to Islam. Chances are he will not turn out to be the Anti-Christ and lead the world into seven years of tribulation and he will definitely not destroy the US economy.

On the other hand, President Obama will not be the Mythical seconding coming of JFK and end poverty in this nation and fix all our social issues such as racism and prejudice. Education, healthcare and the environment will not just all of a sudden become great and to borrow a line from Hillary Clinton, a choir of angles will not come down and start singing.

If Obama is lucky and makes the right choices he could be like Harry Truman or FDR, if he is unlucky and makes bad choices he could be Jimmy Carter. I am not against Obama for President because I do not want to see “Yes we can”, I am against him because historically government has not been able to do all things that he has said that he would like to do.

Chances are President Obama will still be involved in a war in Iraq for at least two or three years if not more. President Obama will have to deal with radicals in his own party who will be very angry with him because he could not deliver everything he promised such as renegotiating NAFTA.

On the positive side I believe that a President Obama will help the United States with its image in Europe and among other allies. I think he will have a positive impact on the environment and will increase fuel standards and invest more in alternative fuel choices. I also believe that a President Obama will be much more likely to compromise then President Billary was in 1993 on healthcare reform and may actually get something done.

Now whether or not this is the right approach is hard to say. There are some things that only the government can do, there are some things that only the private sector can do, and then there are tasks that fall in the middle that both government and private sector can do. The tough thing for any President and congress to decide is which tasks are best left to the private sector and which ones can they add value by a private/public partnership.

No one can predict the future, not even the Great Michael Callaway. I remember in 1992 thinking that President elect Bill Clinton was going to ruin the US economy with his tax increase and with the medical leave act. I also was positive in 2000 that President elect George Bush was going to be able to unite Democrats and Republicans for the common good like he did as Governor of Texas. I was wrong on both accounts. However, in the end I believe that the right person who needed to be President at that time is the one who was/is.

While I will do all that is in my power to elect the man that I feel is the best President, in the end I will support him (or her if all hell breaks lose) and wish him the best however it may be. Hopefully President Obama will not be as tragic as if Def Leppard would have abandoned their drummer and got someone else.

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4 Comments For This Post

Jeff McCord Says:
May 29th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Michael,

I’m a strong and somewhat liberal Democrat. I must say when I began to read this article (knowing you were a McCain fan), I began to cringe.

Wow… thank you for proving me wrong! What an incredibly, well-written opinion! Thank you for being fair. Thank you for voicing your opinion AND STILL being fair! That’s incredible.

Now the real question remains: why can’t the rest of the right-wingers be more like you?

All seriousness, you bring up some great points and I agree with most of them, even with me being for President-to-be Obama. I truly think he’s the best man for this job.

But also, for the first time in 8 years, I’m not sicken beyond belief in fearing if a Republican will win like I’ve been in the past.

George Bush is the worst thing this country has had in a long, long time and neither a Democrat or a Republican can deny that.

So here’s to McCain, Hillary or Obama. Lead this country to a better place.

Jeff
Lisa Pawlowski Says:
May 30th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Well-written piece, Michael. I’m a conservative, which doesn’t necessarily make me a republican. A good friend of mine, who happens to be liberal, and I had a discussion on the presidential race. It was a very good debate. We both entered into it knowing we wouldn’t change each other’s minds and yet we respected each other’s views. Afterward she said she really enjoyed talking to me. She said there aren’t too many people you can have a civilized discussion with these days. In the end we decided, as your article states, the difference between a conservative and a liberal is where you draw the line on government involvement (or to use my word, interference.) Cheers.
Michael Callaway Says:
May 30th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
I agree with both of you. It is a shame that people can not talk about politics or religion without becoming just plain mean.

You said why can’t more conservatives be more like me, I wish both conservatives and liberals could. Not that they agree with me, but that that can state their view and not be ugly.
Jeff McCord Says:
June 17th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Check out the latest that Obama just launched online… all I can say is this man GETS it. He just understands us “internet” people.

http://www.jeffmccord.org/fight-the-smears-obamas-new-online-tactic/