Looking ahead...

Of course this is an historic time.  No question all the statements about a change in direction for America, a new 'face', and all those other ghosts have been vanquished (?), but now after the soaring rhetoric (which all the same was very good, some of the best speech-making in decades), we're going to have to deal with the daunting task of leading a stumbling country out of expensive wars and a crippled economy.  Careful is the watchword going forward.

It would be delicious for the conquering Democrats to jam through their agendas, but it would serve them about as well as it served the Republicans.  Too much power to one party ultimately has a negative consequence for that party.  The best the Democrats can do is look at the collossal expenditure of political capital and goodwill by the Republicans over the past 3 years (and incredibly over just the past 45 days) to see a blue print for losing.  Bush & Cheney have done a stunning job of leading a nation and their party to a dead end. 

Is the war overseas on a path to victory?  It's arguable either way.  That uncertainty is a huge problem.  Comments by McCain about taking more time (decades) to 'finish' the job were too unclear for a populace that needs to have clarity. 

Will the economy recover?  Well, for some who are less than 3 years from retirement, it's not clear either.  Meanwhile, the current administration has essentially nationalized large portions of the financial services business.  Those who are close to retirement now have to rely more on bigger government to cover their retirement accounts and finances tied to companies that have received TARP dollars.  Scary.

And the Republican party is in shambles.  Nobody wanted anything to do with Bush or anyone in his administration, most of whom will limp back into the private sector with a big scarlet letter on them.  Good like finding the kind of lucrative post-government gigs to which your Clinton administration predecessors transitioned.  And so one question one has to ask is whether the 2nd term was actually 'worth it' for Bush & especially Cheney.  This is really it for them.  There is really no other function they'll serve that will have much impact on America, and yet the incredible mess that was Bush Jr.'s second term is nothing less than a complete collapse of leadership.

And now the person elected to be the change agent, who is very eloquent but short on experience, will be pressed to clean up the mess.  No wonder he said it will take maybe a term or more.  Here's hoping that he selects a strong and capable team of experienced and talented Cabinet members and department heads who are able to plan and mobilise the correction America needs, and then has the guts to let them do their jobs. 

---Hack