Obama's Victory Speech consisted of consensus building and healing while warning of the huge tasks ahead. It was one of his best speeches, which is saying a lot. The speech was in sharp contrast to Bush's victory speech four years ago when Bush proclaimed a mandate and stated he had political capital and intended to use it. It is a case of Bush's stubborn arrogance vs. Obama's humility. Bush will leave the office with the worst approval rating (20%) of any president in history.
McCain's concession speech was very gracious, and one of his best as well. Some might even wonder what might have happened had McCain stuck with that tone during the campaign instead of swinging wildly with a series of ill-advised gambits such as his selection of Palin for vice president.
Toss such thoughts aside. The election would likely have been slightly closer, with possible McCain pickups in North Carolina and Indiana, but this election was simply not McCain's to win.
The public wanted a change, and after 8 years of Bush who can blame them? Voters simply could not, in spite of repeated efforts by McCain, think that McCain (rightly or wrongly) offered anything but 4 more years of failed Bush policies.
Change has come to America, 4 years too late.
Obama's Victory Speech
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McCain's Concession Speech
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New Direction
Rex Nutting is writing A victory for the people.
Never have so many Americans spoken so loudly that they don't like the direction the country has taken. In many ways, the record turnout in Tuesday's election was a repudiation of President Bush -- his wars, his economy, his disdain for the rule of law and will of the people. Democrats and Republicans alike agreed on that.Best Possible Choice vs. Best Choice Possible
But the voters did more than turn their backs on a failed presidency, they turned to the future. By the tens of millions, Americans camped out in long lines at the voting booths from Florida to Alaska to say that America has not been defeated by the misadventure in Iraq or the malfeasance on Wall Street, or the arrogance in the West Wing.
And many Americans, of course, now feel besieged by a government that will be controlled by the Democrats (if not disguised Marxists) who will scheme to raise their taxes, destroy their jobs, degrade their culture, and probably clog their plumbing.
Obama's political and rhetorical skills will be needed.
But more than that, the millions of Americans who marched behind him and the millions more who didn't will have to take Obama's message to heart. It is not Obama, or Biden, or Pelosi, or Reid, or McConnell or Palin who will change America; that is our task.
I voted for Ron Paul. It was not to be, but I had to vote my conscience. And although Ron Paul may have been the best possible choice, in our two party system voters decided Obama was the best choice possible.
Let us all hope that Obama can quickly put the war in Iraq behind us, heal our rifts with the rest of the world, and have the courage to do the right things economically. It is a difficult mission and the stakes could hardly be greater. His victory speech as well as McCain's concession speech are steps in the right direction. Let the healing process begin.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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