“I’m worried. I mean, everyone, absolutely everyone has put Obama on such a high pedestal and he’s bound to make a big mistake, and then everyone is going to hate him, and everything will be AWFUL.”
I hear worried speeches similar to this over and over again, generally from people who voted for Obama, but who have now decided that fret is the new hope. Optimism? I mean, that’s just so three months ago.
Based on the number of times I’ve heard this same speech, I can promise at least this to you who are worrying: you aren’t alone. In fact, if just those people who I’ve talked to about this in the past few weeks would give me your names and phone numbers, you’d probably already enough have members to wait list part of your new support group.
Yes, yes, I’m horribly biased towards presidential optimism. I was just seventeen in 2001, so this is the first time in my adult life that I’ve had a president other than Bush. It still blows my mind on a daily basis that when I hear the president has ordered this or that overturned I’m elated, not disappointed. Starting to close Gitmo? Excellent. Rescinding the gag rule? Fabulous. Reaching out a friendly hand to other countries? Amazing.
I suppose I still share some of your worries. Of course he’s going to make mistakes. Of course people will jump on those mistakes as proof that Obama is too inexperienced, too elitist, or too liberal. Yes there will be plenty of political drama. However, this new political beginning strikes me as similar to the beginning marriage. It’s good to understand there will be rough patches down the road. On the other hand, if you begin your marriage imagining your divorce, you’re probably subscribing yourself to unnecessary misery.
Oh, this isn’t to say that we shouldn’t look forward: planning for the future is essential to any relationship, president-to-supporters or otherwise. Yet, I think we can look forward while still savoring the honeymoon. There will still be plenty of time to argue over whose turn it is to do the dishes, take out the trash, or reduce the national deficit.
In the end, my sustained optimism comes down to this: when I look Obama’s plans and policies, his ideas and ideals, I see a country I want to be a part of. For me, that’s enough to keep the early glow of this relationship fresh for quite a while.
