Obama Kicks Puppy, HKS Goes Wild?
by Emily Cadik on October 15, 2008 in Opinion
Of course Obama won the first two debates. Not only was he right on all the issues, but he seemed more presidential, more intelligent, and generally more lovable.
I’ll admit it. I think Obama can hardly do wrong. On a very limited number of occasions, I’ve been disappointed in him. I wasn’t happy about his vote on FISA, nor his reaction to the Supreme Court decision on capital punishment. Most Obama supporters remember that month over the summer when we started wondering if his attempt to shift to the center was really a turn to the dark side. But on the whole, I’ve defended most everything he’s ever said or done.
Lately, though, a question has been nagging at me: if he wins this election, will I actually be able to critically evaluate his administration? Or will I give him the sort of intellectually lazy support that I have attributed only to Republicans for the past eight years?
Bush has been the president for most of my politically-aware life, so I figure my political outlook is bound to change if (when) there’s actually a Democrat in the White House. For two terms, I’ve complained about Bush insulating himself from criticism and stifling dissent. I’ve decried his followers for deliberately shielding themselves from information that might undermine their worldview or Bush’s master plan. But recently, I’ve found myself accusing Democrats who offer complaints about Obama or his campaign of being Republicans. So if Obama is elected, what’s to stop me from becoming what I’ve always condemned? Will I cease to read the news? Only read White House press releases on the antics of Obama’s adorable children?
I tried thinking about what my Republican friends have been doing for the past eight years. A lot of them blamed Democratic congressmen for preventing Bush from making his conservative dream a reality. Nancy Pelosi was a popular target. But after years of complaining about the president, I don’t know if I’ll be sated just picking on Republican members of Congress. When the nation isn’t headed in the right direction, it’s much easier to complain if it’s not your party controlling both the executive and legislative branches. I imagine an Obama victory on November 4th will make attributing blame significantly more complicated starting January 20.
What if the financial crisis gets even worse? What if Iraq becomes messier? Will I still blame it on Republicans, even if they become an even smaller minority? Will I continue to point the finger at Bush two, four, six years into an Obama administration? Maybe I’ll just stick to my favorite pastime of blaming things on Joe Lieberman.
Bush’s approval rating recently dropped to 27 points. Only Truman and Nixon have shared such low Gallup ratings before, and this undoubtedly makes Bush one of the least popular presidents of all time. But even so, it means over one in four Americans still thinks Bush is doing a good job - after the Iraq War, Katrina, and now the biggest financial crisis since the Depression. I wonder what it would take for these die-hard Bush fans to say he’s not doing a good job.
On the same note, what would it take for me to think Obama isn’t doing a good job? I worry that if a headline were to read, for instance, “Obama kicks puppy,” I might just see the words “Obama” and “puppy” and melt a little.
In Cambridge, and particularly at the Kennedy School, I feel like everyone agrees with me. In the 2008 primaries, 2,372 Republicans voted in Cambridge compared to 27,155 Democrats. It’s easy to become idle in this liberal cocoon. The debate here is not over whether we should pull out of Iraq, but when; not if Sarah Palin is qualified to lead, but if she is evil or just dangerous. How myopic will my thinking become if I continue to surround myself with people who agree with me about a government and agenda we all support?
Obviously I’m excited about the likelihood of an Obama administration, along with a Democrat-controlled House and Senate. I think they’ll make a lot of the changes we’ve needed for a while. I just have to make sure I don’t lose my ability to critically evaluate policies or read the news with an open mind.
In the meantime, I’m looking forward to the last debate - because it’s obvious who’s going to win.
Comments
2 Responses to “Obama Kicks Puppy, HKS Goes Wild?”
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Hi Emily,
I am a 50-year-old registered independent who voted for Bush back in the beginning because of campaign promises he made about school vouchers. I did not want vouchers because I am an evangelical Christian who believes that creation theory should be an integral part of school curriculums - no way! I wanted school vouchers because my oldest child has a learning disability and the public school system here chose not to provide a FAPE (free and appropriate public education). I could have sent my children to Harvard for what I paid to educate my son from fourth grade through high school graduation. And I still had to pay taxes toward public school!
Of course, this particular Bush campaign promise fell by the wayside along with all the others and I am so disgusted after the last eight years that this is the first time I have seriously considered not voting at all. I’m not racist or sexist and I don’t practice age discrimination. I just don’t believe anyone anymore. I suppose that makes me a cynic and perhaps a little lazy … I think “tired” is more accurate. As a cynic, I enjoyed reading your opinion piece above because you don’t want to get lazy and lose your optimism.
However, I am concerned about how I found your piece which was via a search engine on my blog. My blog is about dogs and “lazy” people who do not click on the link are going to think Obama actually did kick a puppy. I don’t think either one of us wants that to happen.
Nice article, well written. Always good to look within, to question self. Without an honest critique of yourself, you will not gain wisdom nor gain knowledge.
You do drop your guard and admit to a naive nature,
“…I’m excited about the likelihood of an Obama administration, along with a Democrat-controlled House and Senate.”
This notion, this event defeats our democratic notion of “balance of power” and defeats our democratic notion of “checks and balances.” Our country was and is founded upon preventing concentration of power. Our forefathers struggled with wording of our constitution, of our bill of rights and other documents of history, struggled to prevent precisely for which you are excited.
Should all of Capitol Hill and the White House become under single party control, under control of democrats, Obama will become, de facto, America’s first despot. This is extremely dangerous. This is a threat to Freedom.
With total control by democrats, Capitol Hill and Obama can easily push through any legislation with little or no opposition. This is not good.
As you know, Democrats are socialists. Our forefathers never had in mind for our America to become a socialist nation. Our forefathers fought for, bled for and died for Freedom and Democracy. Single party rule over our government would be a slap across the face of Ms. Liberty.
Our country is America. Our country is not a Banana Republic.
Unlike you, I am not excited by single political party control over our country. Quite the opposite, I am gravely concerned.
Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation