My prediction for Barack Obama:
Barack Obama will go down very hard (to the tune of Eliot Spitzer) as a politician. Something from his past, or something he does while in office will come back to bite him. He will most likely leave the political world and history will not remember him well.
My prediction for an Obama presidency (note: I do not believe this race is over):
The highest point of Obama's presidency will be his inauguration speech. It will be hyped beyond belief; however, fewer people will watch it than is expected. Obama will talk about a new era, a new vision, a new purpose, a new age for America. He will speak little of freedom, opportunity, and economic growth.
From there, it will all be downhill. In no particular order, 1) we will begin to see prices creep up on all goods and services, 2) the federal government will appear more often on in our lives, 3) the stock market will, at best, grow incrementally, but probably not clear above 12,000, 4) it will be harder to find a job that suits ones interests and skills, 5) IPOs will be at an all-time low, 6) we will hear of much less entrepreneurship, and 7) we will see individual liberties such as economic freedom and freedom of speech curtailed under such false pretenses as “fairness” and “helping others”.
If Obama sticks to his plans and ideology, and I fully believe he will, I predict we will see all of these things and much more.
Now, do I want these things to happen? No. Will I be cheering when these things occur? No. Do I see some good that could come out of an Obama presidency that results in all this? Yes.
It is quite possible that an Obama presidency could expose the sheer dangers of liberal ideology better than any conservative pundit has done up to this point. He, along with democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, could cause so much destruction that the United States could finally turn the page on big-government, pro-union, anti-liberty, nanny-state, protectionist, redistributive ideology. If the country were to finally realize what kind of governing principles actually create opportunity and growth, and which ones don’t, we would be in a really great place.
This kind of situation would require principled, conservative leaders to step up to the plate. If there were candidates for the White House and Congress with the confidence of Newt Gingrich, the intellectual candor of George Will, and the ability to relate to all Americans (Mike Huckabee does it well), the country could see a giant swing over to libertarian/conservative principles. That would be a good day for America.
Who might those leaders be? Mark Sanford, Eric Cantor, Bobby Jindal? No matter who wins the White House, in 2010 and 2012 - we will need them.
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6 comments:
I find your prophecy rather interesting. What, pray tell, is your logic for all that will take the US downhill with Obama? If you believe it so much, so be it, but at least please provide some factual information and economic analysis that would support those theories in a manner that is not a simple regurgitation of conservative talking points.
I find it interesting that you think Obama will curtail civil liberties, and you go on to list individuals like Bobby Jindal as the future of this country that will bring it to Libertarian principles. Why? Because banning abortion in every case, teaching intelligent design as science, prohibiting stem cell research, and supporting perhaps the biggest violation of civil liberties ever in the country, the Patiot Act, is progress?
I tend to agree with most of what you say. However one situation you have not mentioned is the prospect of a democratic supermajority. The senate will likely have enough democrats to avoid any possible filibuster. This, in my opinion, is much more terrifying than solely a liberal executive branch. Couple this with the potential judicial appointments that will likely occur during the next four years, and you could have the implementation of an ultra-liberal agenda not seen since the 60s. It could take decades to undo the damage done in a single 4-year term.
Another irony. If you actually have read Will lately, you can see that he supports Obama and calls McCain "careless".
I am a late supporter of Obama--though never the less a supporter--and I have mentally walked myself through the "what-ifs" of his potential presidency already before I put my support behind him. It's apparent that he has some flaws but the Republican party didn't exactly set out to find a gang of folks who were so great either. If you ask me, the Republican party has lost all grasp on reality in choosing a team of Sarah Palin and John McCain when there were so many better candidates out there. Now that's pretty careless...
The downfalls that you anticipate seem more like the current realities rather than prophecies. Prices of goods and services are rising. The government is appearing more in our lives as Americans are becoming desperate for solutions to the accumulating problems, instead as mechanism that supports us in our normal lives. The stock market...no explanation needed. Suited jobs are practically nonexistent. And the list goes on. I think a change could do some good.
I concur with most of this... Obama will probably not pull a second term.
Donald Trump once wrote about his bewilderment as to how Jimmy Carter ever won the Presidency. One day, Carter met with Trump to request funding for a national library in his own name. When asked how much he wanted, Carter replied, "Donald, I would be very appreciative if you would donate $5 million dollars." Trump didn't answer, and asked Carter to leave.
He said the meeting taught him that a guy like Carter has the raw boldness to persuade people to support him, but four years in the White House made his incompetency pretty clear to everyone.
I think Obama could run into similar problems, and won't be remembered in history for much more than having broken the racial norm of the Presidency, although he is much smarter than Carter and has a stronger will to survive. Guess we'll see how this pans out.
Fun Facts: Obama would be the first President with African descent, Biden would be the first Roman Catholic VP, Palin the first female VP, and McCain the oldest first term President. We're just breaking all sorts of specialness this year, aren't we?
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