The Big Day!

November 4, 2008 · Posted in DNC, People in the news, Political Figures, Political Issues, Politics, RNC, Social Change, Social Issues, Society · 1 Comment 

I love election day, it feels like the Superbowl to me and I am already thinking of all the munchies I am going to put together to watch the returns come in.

I expect an Obama victory, but not the blow-out that many forecast.  I believe, and have a $0.25 bet with a fellow blogger, that the over-under on the electoral college count will be 310 for Obama.  I took the “under”.

I would like to see McCain pull it out, but I just do not think it is in the cards.

However, I thought I would take a moment and say a few good things about Obama, why I do not fear the socialist takeover of the American system that many on the left would like to see and many on the right fear (and probably have blown out of proportion).

First, I think that Obama is highly intelligent, honest and loves his country.  I also think he is a consensus seeker and will surround himself with highly intelligent advisers.  Obama also has a track record of taking in all views.  On this last point I will give him credit over the current Administration.

Secondly, I think the Republicans will keep 42 seats in the Senate and that combined with the moderate Democrats in the Senate will provide a ballast against any radical moves to overhaul anything (tax policy, healthcare, etc) in a way that would be disruptive to the economy.

Thirdly, the weak state of the economy itself requires treading carefully into any attempts at modifying the system, particularly tax rates, and the glaring problem that both parties want and will attack aggressively in the first 100 days will I suspect be to repair the lax regulation that led to the recent financial crises.  I think the focus on this will be so intense it will take away from other initiatives that may be less attractive to conservatives.

Finally, with respect to tax policy, the Bush tax cuts were going to be allowed to roll-off in 2010 regardless of who was elected President.  Anyone who says differently is just wrong.  With the makeup of congress as is, much less with the make up we will have after this election, extension of those tax cuts had no chance.  I think allowing those tax cuts to expire will be the extent of major adjustment to tax rates in the first two years of an Obama Administration.  I did not feel like the federal government was extracting unfairly from my income prior to the Bush tax cuts, so allowing them to expire does not bother me that much.  Plus, anyone paying attention at the time, and I recall thinking about how the tax cuts were structured, knew that this was a temporary windfall that would go away at some point any way.

So all in all, I still feel good about our nation and its future and so should you (especially if you are an Obama supporter).  I will also add that I do think Obama might be the right guy to restore some of our prestige internationally.  The world wide support for him is great. I know that should not matter to voters what people in Africa, Asia, India, Europe think.  But the fact is our credibility and respect has been hammered and as long as Obama strongly supports our national interest – if his international popularity restores some of that prestige I am all for it.

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