Spring Break
Three keys to a successful Barack Obama presidency
Ian Bezek
Issue date: 1/20/09 Section: Opinion
With the presidency of George Bush mercifully ending today, it's easy to be excited for the future. Even among those of us who didn't vote for Obama, there is a strong sense of optimism that a new day has dawned in America.
However the success of the Obama presidency is not yet assured; there are a few things Obama needs to do to ensure his time will be remembered favorably.
The first thing, and possibly most important is, for Obama to realize his election did not give him a mandate to be as liberal as his backers might wish. A large number of Obama voters were voting against McCain, Bush and the Republicans; Obama needs to stick to the political center and unify the country.
President Bush promised us responsible moderate rule, yet after taking office, he started unleashing extremist religious fundamentalism upon the nation. The Democrats now have the opportunity to govern; hopefully they will lead the whole nation and not just the factions of it that support their ideology.
While the Republicans used issues such as gay marriage and social security to polarize the nation, Obama has campaigned on bringing us together - he needs to stick to this and govern moderately, a swing to the hard left will greatly damage his ability to bring the change we need.
Clearly, one area where there will be changes is in the economy. By far the most important topic to the electorate this campaign -- the economy -- paved the way for Obama's victory.
We do need changes in the economy. The government made great fanfare about stepping up regulation and enforcing laws but accomplished little under Bush's leadership.
The presidents of several major American banks should be in jail for the fraud they've committed and homeowners they've exploited. The Enron style accounting that continues to be utilized at many unscrupulous firms across the economy also needs to be stopped.
The functioning of our economy and financial markets depend on trust, and the actions of certain companies, combined with the lackadaisical enforcement of our laws have broken that trust.
However the success of the Obama presidency is not yet assured; there are a few things Obama needs to do to ensure his time will be remembered favorably.
The first thing, and possibly most important is, for Obama to realize his election did not give him a mandate to be as liberal as his backers might wish. A large number of Obama voters were voting against McCain, Bush and the Republicans; Obama needs to stick to the political center and unify the country.
President Bush promised us responsible moderate rule, yet after taking office, he started unleashing extremist religious fundamentalism upon the nation. The Democrats now have the opportunity to govern; hopefully they will lead the whole nation and not just the factions of it that support their ideology.
While the Republicans used issues such as gay marriage and social security to polarize the nation, Obama has campaigned on bringing us together - he needs to stick to this and govern moderately, a swing to the hard left will greatly damage his ability to bring the change we need.
Clearly, one area where there will be changes is in the economy. By far the most important topic to the electorate this campaign -- the economy -- paved the way for Obama's victory.
We do need changes in the economy. The government made great fanfare about stepping up regulation and enforcing laws but accomplished little under Bush's leadership.
The presidents of several major American banks should be in jail for the fraud they've committed and homeowners they've exploited. The Enron style accounting that continues to be utilized at many unscrupulous firms across the economy also needs to be stopped.
The functioning of our economy and financial markets depend on trust, and the actions of certain companies, combined with the lackadaisical enforcement of our laws have broken that trust.
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