November 1, 2008

And we're back!

Barack Obama is a prohibitive favorite to become our next President.  He has run an impressive campaign, particularly in his ability to bring in masses of eager volunteers and use them productively.  Given the early returns, it seems that the result is going to be a very high turnout across the board for Obama supporters, which given Obama's lead in the polls may result in an Obama landslide.

The election has had its share of mudslinging, and as someone living in a "battleground state," I feel that I've seen far more ads telling me why not to vote for Candidate X than ones telling me why I should vote for Candidate Y.  This is precisely why I long for a viable third party - it's much more difficult (and more expensive) to go negative against two other candidates; instead, candidates would be forced to run on their own merits much more.  Plus, it might encourage greater independence in platforms as the bases of each party become smaller and less important in winning the election.  Of course, it will take a perfect storm of events and personalities for a third party to overcome the opposition Democrats and Republicans will put up against any rising third party.  Ah well.

To a more practical point, then.  Obama will win an election that has had more than its share of negative campaigning.  He has absolutely inspired a lot of people with his positive campaigning - after all, one cannot create the sort of organization that he has all over the country through negative campaigning - but the relationship between the two parties seems as bitter as it has been through most of the Bush presidency.  Obama's challenge will be do what every candidate always claims he will do - create an atmosphere in Washington in which there is no stigma attached to crossing party lines, an atmosphere in which the first reaction is not to blame the opposition.  The first step he can take is to choose a bipartisan cabinet (which means more than a token Republican as Secretary of Agriculture) - bringing back Colin Powell as Secretary of State would be a good start (and then listen to him!).  Powell is still one of the most popular figures in American politics, and he has endorsed Obama.  To go a step further, I wouldn't mind someone like Mitt Romney in the cabinet as well, and I'd even like to see Obama keep around a neo-con or two (if perhaps not in a cabinet post) - I think they've been a bit too aggressive in their foreign policy under Bush, but they still represent an interesting and valuable point of view that should be taken into consideration by any administration.  Obama's weakness is a lack of experience in foreign policy, but he has a chance to turn this into a positive if he gathers a diverse and intelligent group of advisors around him to provoke greater thought and analysis of each situation.  Isn't this why schools and colleges around the country are embracing diversity - because a diversity of background leads to a diversity of thought that stimulates intellectual growth?  I feel that we have a chance to emerge from 8 years of intellectual stagnation in the highest offices of the country; here's hoping that Obama has the wisdom and courage to end that trend.  And in the very unlikely event that McCain wins, let's hope he's "maverick" enough to break from the party policy of Bush and Rove and do the same.