Catch-22

So, I don't know about you, but as happy as I am about Obama's win, it is tempered by real concerns over what he has ahead of him. As much as I believe in him as a leader, there is a big part of me that would not wish this job on anyone, much less someone I like. So, there it is. I want him to be my leader, but I don't want him to have to deal with all the attendant headaches. There are certainly perks to the job, but in all seriousness, why would someone want to be President of the U.S.? Power, glamour, privilege alongside a devastated economy; tremendous public debt; difficult relations with Iran, Venezuela and even now Pakistan; increasing difficulties in Afghanistan; neverending violence and blood shed in Iraq not to mention all the other skirmishes, humanitarian and ecological nightmares dotting the globe. These are not soft and easy times to run a country, much less the previously acknowledged leader of the free world. Although, frankly, that designation has been tarnished under our current leadership and his freewheeling, unitary ways that have served to alienate longstanding allies and further ignite enmity among our enemies and in some cases among our friends. This is not fun. I wish him and his family the best, but more importantly I choose to pray for him. I pray for wisdom, discernment, good counsel and strength. He will certainly need all these and much more to tackle the job ahead. But, maybe like Esther, "for such a time as this" he has been put in place to show the type of strength and leadership that is necessary to rechart America's course. Only time will tell.

I have had discussions with McCain supporters who, though appreciating the enormity of what it means to have elected a black man as President, feel that he has a huge task set before him due to extremely high expectations as a result of promises made in the campaign and due to his iconic status that is reminiscent of JFK. Certainly he will make some mistakes along the way, but the true test of leadership is how he handles his mistakes: taking responsibility or pointing fingers? hiding behind executive privilege and finding convenient scape goats or owning up to his shortcomings? All in all, we as the American people have a responsibility to allow him to be human although we desperately want him to strive for the best and we must keep his feet to the fire in this, while allowing for grace along the way.

All about tomorrow

I don't know about you, but I am way curious to see what happens tomorrow. D-day. It will be quite interesting to say the least, but I can't help but wonder if all the pundits will be proven correct or otherwise. Will voters really turn to their basest values once the curtain is pulled closed in the voting booths, where politics of color trump politics of principle? Or will it be the landslide that some are calling for? I'm also curious and slightly worried about the actual voting process--will the lines be crazy? will we have the "chad" issue again? what's up with the provisional ballots? what about all those folks who registered but maybe aren't verified according to the election boards? how many lawsuits will come from tomorrow?

I can hope for the best. I hope that people will actually try to vote according to the issues rather than whoever gives them a "warm fuzzy." I read an article today regarding the fact that many American voters don't vote based on issues, but are instead irrational decision-makers, who actually do vote based on their "gut" feelings or some other subjective issue that does not have to necessarily conform to an objective reality. Gotta love that. But what studies do find, however, is that whoever spends the most on advertising tends to have a significant advantage. Hello Bloomberg, Corzine, and now I guess Obama? We'll see...tomorrow.