Obama’s Night

November 5th, 2008 by zen

Senator Barack Obama acheived a historic milestone tonight and is now the President-Elect of the United States. He was as gracious in his victory speech as Senator John McCain was earlier in making his concession. A positive tone that has been absent for too long in recent election cycles.

I voted for Senator McCain. I am not a supporter of President-Elect Obama but I hope that Republicans and conservatives will start their period of loyal opposition by modeling the respect for the new president that President Bush was seldom accorded. There will time enough for rough political battles in the future without sinking into partisan rancor now. The other side ran the better race and our immediate priority should be to get our own house in order. There are  reasons the GOP just was clobbered that cannot be waved away that go beyond media bias or the political skills of Barack Obama.

Congratulations to those Obama supporters and Democrats in the ZP readership, it’s your night tonight as well.

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Posted in 2008, barack obama, democratic party, McCain, republican party | 10 comments

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  1. historyguy99:

    November 5th, 2008 at 6:54 am

    I’m there with you Mark, well spoken as ususal.

  2. John M.:

    November 5th, 2008 at 7:28 am

    Hear Hear! Gracious and well said indeed.

    It seems that we would be hard pressed to sink any lower into rancor, on both sides. One can only hope that the example set by both candidates (and you, Mark) tonight will rub off on the folks that provided us with the embarrassing display of partisan attacks and juvenile hatred that we’ve had to endure during this seemingly endless campaign.

    Remember people, we are all Americans and we have a lot of work ahead of us. Time to get on with it.

  3. joey:

    November 5th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    A good start would be some Republicans picked for meaningful cabinet positions.

    Great win for the Dems, I personally am quite pleased today as a Obama supporter, but my overriding emotion is relief that the damned election is over and done with. 
    I for one hate the slime and frenzy of Presidential elections, the lies, evasions and suspension of reality that go along with them. 
    Both McCain and Obama struck the right note, lets hope that they point to the future.
    I dont think Obama will live up to all expectations some people seem to have invested in him, but I do feel he will be solid, I guess most people will be happy with that.
    I would like to say that its a great day for African Americans, what seemed one day to be  impossible has come to pass,  this will give hope for the future to a lot of people.

  4. Lexington Green:

    November 5th, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    I prayed on decade of the rosary for Barack on the train this morning.

    He needs it.  It’s a big job. 

  5. Barnabus:

    November 5th, 2008 at 7:32 pm

    The tone will be set by the Democrats.  Not by appointing Republicans, since they have no obligation to do so, but by not targeting Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rove for investigation.  It is a critical issue and Obama’s base really wants it so how Obama handles this will say alot about him.

  6. patrick:

    November 5th, 2008 at 7:44 pm

    Keeping Gates would be a good choice, for one, and Buffett and Volcker are good economic advisers. 
    Whether we supported him or not, Obama needs our prayers. He has inherited a huge mess (including an economic crisis, 2 wars, a toxic political climate, a ballooning national debt and looming problems with entitlements). I pray that God guides him in dealing with all of these challenges for the good of the nation.

  7. Lexington Green:

    November 5th, 2008 at 7:50 pm

    Congress should do an inquiry into the origins of the war. 
    .
    Obama’s administration should be forward looking. 
    .
    I cannot conceive that he will appoint Republicans to anything important.  He has a horde of office-hungry Democrats who want those jobs.  And anyway, why should he?  Why make that gesture.  He should put his own people in there and get on with it. 
    .

  8. Barnabus:

    November 5th, 2008 at 9:35 pm

    Lex…"the origins of the war?"  …as in you think that that is a mystery?  c’mon…Aside from the fact that President Clinton signed into law the "regime change Iraq" legislation, which may not have been a declaration of war under the US Constitution but it sure as heck would read that way to a dictator, he also said the exact same things on WMD in Iraq that President Bush said.  Bush never said anything on the capabilities of Iraq, on the intentions of Iraq or the threat we face from Iraq that Clinton and almost every other senior Democrat didn’t also say.  I won’t waste Mark’s space here but I’d be happy to discuss it further with you.
         Mark, you state, "…I hope that Republicans and conservatives will start their period of loyal opposition by modeling the respect for the new president that President Bush was seldom accorded."  The problem was much deeper than that.  The Dems not only went after Bush beyond all reason they also put their own political gain over that of the country; in fact they trashed their country in order to gain politically.  One example of many is Abu Ghraib.  Yes this incident was wrong, it was an embarassment and it demonstrated incompetence on the part of President Bush.  However, it was treated by the Dems and the media as the equivalent of the Holocaust or of slavery.  By any objective analysis this is absurd.  The treatment of this incident greatly damaged the US standing.  So, you ask the Republicans to be noble and not seek retribution.   This may be the responsible thing to do, but what makes you think that the Democrats will behave any differently in the future?  It can’t stay one sided.   This brings me back to investigations into Bush/Cheney et al.  If the Democrats persue this to the degree that I think they will (to the degree that the real power brokers of Moveon.org demands) then we will lose, perhaps permanently, any sense of civil discourse between the parties.

  9. Lexington Green:

    November 5th, 2008 at 10:02 pm

    I should have said "any", by which I meant, if the Democrats are determined to do this, Obama should not get too mixed up in it.
    .
    I don’t think it’s a good idea.  I think its a stupid idea. 
    .
    But I think it would be really stupid for the new administration to waste its time with it.
    .
    Generally, I agree with you.

  10. Smitten Eagle:

    November 6th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    Thanks for the props on the chicagoboyz post, mark.

    S/F,
    SE