It\’s been a week. \”Barack Hussein Obama\” – Not quite \”Thomas Jefferson\”, nor \”Abraham Lincoln\”, nor even \”George Herbert Walker Bush\”. But I voted for him, thinking at the time that he was the lesser of the two evils. I was a strong supporter of John McCain going in, but as time went on, I felt less and less in tune with what his message was. And I was really high on him when Sarah Palin came on board as the VP candidate. But it quickly became apparent that Sarah was a huge liability, and that alone was enough to sway me to Obama. (I\’d have been quite happy if the ticket were Biden/Obama instead, too).
And yes, I recognize the historic significance of finally getting a black man in the White House, but I don\’t care that he\’s black. Yes, it\’s symbolic of the great strides \”we\” have made as a country (and it\’s pretty damned significant that his primary competition for the candidacy was a woman!), and I appreciate that. But I don\’t expect, and really would be disappointed, if it makes any difference that President Obama is black.
I expect President Obama to be presidential, to lead, and to catalyze our nation toward getting out of this hole we\’ve managed to dig ourselves. I\’m hoping that President Obama will bring to a close the \”ME\” generation, to instill a new ethic of responsibility instead of entitlement, and create an ethic of \”what can I do for you?\” instead of \”what can you do for me?\”.
Good luck and Godspeed, Mr. President.
