It is true, Mr. Obama’s eloquence and public charisma has been a fantastic conduit for the relatively progressive platform profiled by the Democratic party onto the nation, but the vote in favor of “change” was also one of equal force and magnitude against “more of the same.”
This was a vote against policies emanating from the right wing of the Republican party, the “Bush doctrine” of preemptive strikes and equally harmful aggressive foreign policy stance including violations of human rights and crimes against humanity, the attempted privatization of our retirement system, the implementation of regressive and polarizing economic polices, the promotion of a lax and laxer regulatory environment at all spheres of our socio-economic life laying the groundwork for the current crisis. This was the essence, the core, of the rejected paradigm.
The newly elected President represents a historically disenfranchised minority; it is the cherry on top of the ice cream, a welcome opportunity for other minorities in the future.
But now, as we dry our last tears, it is time to go back to work. The 2012 campaign has begun. The incoming administration will have to make some difficult choices. There are some magnificent hurdles ahead of us.
In the immediate horizon this administration must find a way to restore the integrity of the heart of the core of our economic system, the credit markets. This will be a daunting task of gargantuan proportions and a sort of fiscal Pandora’s box. It will surely involve a much greater regulatory machine run from atop the State. Perhaps, as suggested by some, the solution would be to implement a super lender of last resort who would also be a super regulator. But that would suggest a much more progressive ideology than what has been currently exhibited, time will tell.
In the near future, this country needs to revisit the problems associated with undocumented immigrants peripherally associated to globalization and outsourcing, universal health care, public education, capitalization of public infrastructure, Social Security funding, the invasion of Iraq and seriously improving our foreign relations with the various players in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
In the long run, the mounting problem of our foreign debt will burden future generations who will have to learn how to consume less and pay higher interest rates in the credit markets. This may prove to be an insurmountable problem for the new President and one that will test all his management skills and political savvy. And then we have the ominous and related problem of global warming and funding the research for alternative fuels initiatives.
Along the way the Obama’s administration will make, surely, some mistakes, but if it stays true to its progressive agenda we, the ones who voted for him, need to remain ever vigilant by his side. We must never again fall sleep on our laurels, we did that before and look where it got us.
No, we cannot afford another calamitous administration. The 2012 campaign starts now and we are all in it; you have no choice. Be informed, participate, become educated and opinionated, questions your leaders, your representatives, walk the walk, vote in every single election, fight for power and hold on to those newly acquired progressive spaces, do not let go, be a Pitbull and a guardian for the progressive cause.
History shows that great pyramids are built over many years and with the aggregated effort of millions. We have a duty, an obligation to remain alert and combatant, because our future and that of your love ones depend on our continuous efforts, the next Presidential campaign has began.
--Luis Brunstein
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