Raspberry82 wrote:
What troubles me the most is the fact that our government as of tonight is not a democracy anymore. It is a 1 party rule throughout. Congress majority is dems, president, vp, cabinet, senate. So there is no two wings to make the eagle anymore. The dems will be able to pass whatever they want to without any opposition.
I disagree with this viewpoint. Not only does this not affect the standing of our democracy (democracy= voting in our elected officials) but the Democratic majority is not as singular as many (right-wingers) feel. Especially with the newly elected Democrats from the south, there are a lot of moderate-to-conservative Dems and they're much less likely to toe the party line if they disagree on something. Also, the Republicans can still filibuster to their heart's content so the Dems will need at least some Republican support too in order to prevent a filibuster stalemate.
What is funny to me is that not nearly as many people complained when Republicans were in the same position.
I really do think Obama will reach out to others with different viewpoints, especially as many of his advisers have been Republican too. And if you watch Obama's speach from last nigh (it was fantastic by the way), he stresses that we as a country will need to work together to solve our problems. He also promised to try to be a good president for the people that didn't vote for him too since he knows they also matter.
I, personally, am thrilled that Obama won. As one of my coworkers put it, it's an amazing feeling to wake up in the morning with hope in your heart.
I also hope that the Republican party goes through some changes as the pundits have been talking about. As one Republican on CNN put it, they are now mainly a party of Southern whites, and they need to re-evaluate their stances and who they are reaching out to in order to become more nationally viable.
It's my opinion, as well as that of many others, that under the Bush administration this whole country has been pulled farther to the political right. "Liberal" has become a four letter word and actual moderates are now called liberals. Obama is very centrist even though he is called "the most liberal Senator." European countries are being called "socialist" for their slightly left-wing (not far left) policies. I would like to see theUS swing back so that the balance is more to the actual center of the political spectrum and voters get more choice than center-right and far right politicians.
Some of you may consider me unAmerican for this *cough*Palin*cough* but I am finally proud of my country again.
