Assuming Obama wins tomorrow (although I will still watch election coverage while nervously biting fingernails), there is still one question I have not heard much discussion of: how will our two parties change? It seems probable to me that Obama’s victory will actually have more of a bipartisan impact on our countries dual-party political system than if John McCain were to win.
Consider the options each party had for their presidential candidate. The Democrats went with Obama. And the Republicans chose McCain, who was the most moderate of the bunch in the running (Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani, etc.). As a Democrat, I remember thinking on the day McCain won, that “well, at least my worst nightmares can’t come true now.” What worries me now, though, is that if McCain loses the Republican base will see this as a failing of their efforts to reach towards the middle. And consequently snap back to the right.
These ideas are implied in the recent slew of articles on Palin going “rogue.” Op-ed contributors certainly see in her a desire to climb as high as possible, building upon her easy popularity with certain sections of the Republican base. If Republicans leave this election unhappy with the direction McCain tried to lead them in, who will they look too? Like it or not, Palin is now the second most visible Republican on the national stage, and, by playing things right, she can still come away from this election looking like "McCain should have listened to me." Such a position could give her an even stronger sway on Republican politics, by influencing the public that will listen to her, rather than by exercising legislative political influence.
It is inevitable that this election will cause the losing party to question their identity. Should Obama win, I think he has (yet another) responsibility to quickly reach out to Republicans, and ensure that his dream of “Change” will include the entire country.
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Sorry the indentations didn't come out right.
I certainly agree that Republicans will feel disheartened with their loss in this presidential election, but I think several signs point that this melancholy will not be as bad as it could have been in any other election. Although some people clearly hate Obama and want to take his life because they do not want a black president, and although news reports - ABC I think - described slews of letters coming from some evangelical and some Jewish leaders of their respective churches and congregations warning that the country would never be the same - in a bad way - if Obama were elected, these seemingly hardcore conservatives are in the minority. Most Republicans are realistic and, on the contrary, should feel ecstatic about this election. Not because they did well, but because they didn't do as badly as they feared. Sure, Obama won, but we are coming out of eight years of a presidency that has not been popular, to say the least. We're mired in war, the economy is at a chokehold, and voters have clearly suffered from a general fatigue from the Republican party, the beginning of which was seen in the 2006 elections. So even though some McCain supporters booed during the parts of McCain's concession speech that praised Obama, the majority of Republicans realize that things could have gone much worse - maybe the Democrats won't gain that filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and significantly fewer than 30+ Republican House members lost their reelections. On the whole, therefore, I believe that the average Republican will not be in despair - if anything, this was the year for the Democrats.
That said, some people might believe that McCain should have listened to Palin and therefore turn to Palin for 2012. But some people might also realize, in hindsight, that the Palin vice-presidential pick was a definite mistake. I don't have any evidence, but somehow I believe that most Republicans on the national stage disagreed with the pick of Palin but obviously could not voice their dissent and be seen as betraying the party (exception: Chuck Hagel, but he's also a maverick). Reports have also surfaced this week from within the former McCain election camp about serious disagreements with Palin, including embarrassing stories about Africa. I just hope that Palin followers will not adore her blindly and come to realize that even though she can tell those hockey mom stories and endear herself to the average fan, she simply is not ready for the presidency of the United States, nor will she be in four fleeting years. I doubt she will obtain the Republican nomination in 2012.
Finally, we do need unity now that the election is over. While both McCain and Obama tried to unite Americans in their post-election speeches, I think they have vastly different roles in their respective parties. McCain, unlike Obama, is old - I don't think he will run again in 2012 - he's a maverick who has clearly been censured by his party in the past, and coming off this failed election, he will not be seen as the unofficial leader of his party. Obama has already done a great job of uniting his party, to say the least, and with his victory has sealed the role as the captain of the Democratic Party. So when Obama reaches out to the Republicans to affect change in America, he will have to connect with multiple heads of the Republican party in both the House and Senate because his counterpart, the leader of the Republican party, has not been found yet.
Well, some disheartening news: even after this election, 64% of Republicans say that they want Palin to be the Republican nominee in 2012...91% have a favorable view of her and 65% a very favorable view. Hopefully things will change.
[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/07/poll-64-percent-of-republ_n_142284.html]
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