Posted by
David Zublick on Sunday, November 23, 2008 1:41:49 PM
The fear that many conservatives had that a Barack Obama presidency
might result in an extreme tilt to the left in this country may have
been temporarily assuaged by conditions on the ground.
The
landscape of this nation has changed greatly over the last several
months as an economic meltdown has crippled Wall Street and threatened
to throw us into a malaise that has not been seen since the 1930s.
It's
amazing that one can campaign on an agenda so sweeping that the very
fabric of a country might be forever changed by it, then be forced to
completely overhaul that ideology based on reality. It's happened
before.
When President George W. Bush took office, he went in
with a domestic agenda that included tax cuts, improving education by
requiring accountability, and Social Security and Medicare reform. That
all changed on September 11, 2001, when our nation was attacked and
Bush was forced to become a wartime president.
Fast-forward to
2008. Obama ran on a platform of ending the Iraq war quickly and
bringing home the troops within 18 months, repealing the Bush tax cuts
immediately and increasing taxes on anyone making over $250,000 a year
(or maybe less than that). But a combination of a troop surge that
worked, combined with a financial crisis most did not anticipate has
put Obama in a position of having to move toward the center.
The
evidence of this shift is clear in the selection of many of his cabinet
appointments. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State is actually a safe
choice. She understands foreign policy, and she is more hawkish on
defense. She voted for the war in Iraq. Obama is also considering
asking Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to stay on. That could mean
"stay the course" in Iraq...at least for the time being. And for those
men and women in our military who are leery of serving under a
commander-in-chief who planned to cut and run, Gates retention may
provide encouragement.
Domestically, Obama is surrounding himself with moderates like Tim
Geithner
and Larry Summers who understand the situation and what this crisis
could do to our economy. There is now talk of letting the Bush tax cuts
expire in 2011 and not raising
anybody's taxes in this poor economy. It's clear that those in
Obama's inner circle see this nation heading into a depression and want to do everything in their power to stave it off.
Those
on the far left who supported Obama based on a radical change to social
policies may have to wait. They might be disappointed if they believe
that their liberal agenda will be given more than a passing
consideration, at least in the first few months of an Obama
administration.
If the economy turns around and the future looks
bright within the next two years, we may see some of that radical
ideology implemented. If not, Republicans may have a chance to reclaim
both houses of congress and prevent our country from becoming a suburb
of France.
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