Considering the fact that millions of white folks in 30 states voted for Barack Obama instead of Hillary Clinton ought to be proof enough that the American people are no longer negatively influenced by race when it comes to choosing political leadership. This is true, regardless of what has come out of the mouth of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. He represents the racist past, while Obama represents the non-racist future.
But what Republicans and conservatives don’t like about Obama is not his race but his ideology. After all, if Thomas Sowell were running for president, conservatives would back him to the hilt. The problem with Obama is that he represents the far left ideology of the Democratic Party, otherwise known as Socialism, the philosophy of government that advocates bureaucratic control over all aspects of life.
When Obama advocates “unity,” he surely must be aware of the great divide that separates the two political parties. The Democratic Party is the party of the advanced Nanny State. The Republican Party is still the party of limited government, low taxes, individual freedom, less government regulation of the economy and traditional moral principles.
Thus, there is no way that the great divide between the two major political parties can be cemented over by talk of “unity.” The existence of the two political parties with opposing philosophies of government guarantee that we shall be living in an ideologically divided society for the foreseeable future. Liberals will continue to control the education of most American children, thus spreading the ideas of Socialism among younger generations, and conservatives will assert traditional spiritual and moral values by adherence to the teachings of the Bible and the original intent of the Framers of the U. S. Constitution.
Homeschoolers, although small in numbers, will have a disproportionate influence on conservative politics. The astonishing success of Patrick Henry College in getting its graduates into key positions in Congress, the media and the judiciary bodes well for the future of Christian political purpose.
Recent elections have shown that the seesawing between left and right indicate that neither political party is going to be able to impose its philosophy overwhelmingly on the American people. This is all to the good, because it means that no one president, who is the leader of his party, can become a dictator in a nation as divided as we are. Not even Bill Clinton could ignore the great divide, and much as she may try, Hillary will not be able to deliver the kind of “unity” Obama prattles about.
If leftist Obama is elected, we shall see a conservative reaction that will stymie many of his programs. But, if his victory also brings in full Democratic control of Congress, then he may, like LBJ in 1965, be able to push through some of his ultra-liberal programs. But in the next election, we would, no doubt, see a strong resurgence of conservatism.
Just as we have seen that there cannot be a permanent Republican majority in Congress and the White House, as Karl Rove would have liked to achieve, so it is unlikely that we shall see a permanent Democratic majority controlling Congress. Regardless of what happens in November 2008, our divided politics will provide a kind of equilibrium between our warring factions. Our cultural civil war will continue but not become physical.
Yet, each president is confronted with daunting challenges. All was peace and light for George Bush until Osama bin Ladin gave us 9/11. We then found ourselves at war with radical Islam. This was a new kind of war that had to be fought in a new kind of way. Whether or not you believe that the invasion of Iraq was a good idea, we are now there, and whoever is president will have to deal with that problem. And whatever solution is adopted, the American people will have to deal with its consequences.
The president of the United States is still considered the most powerful political figure in the world and the leader of the free world. He projects America’s abiding ideals of individual freedom, human rights and benign government. He is also commander in chief of the world’s largest and most powerful military force. And all of that is supported by the largest, richest and most dynamic economy on the globe.
We may already be in a serious recession, but that’s nothing new. Our economy expands and contracts according to a whole battery of economic factors. We have a consumer-driven economy dependent on easy consumer credit. Only paper money churned out by the Federal Reserve’s printing presses can sustain such an economy. Inherent in such a system is the continued devaluation of the currency.
Who would have ever thought that one day the Canadian dollar would be worth more than the American buck? These are just some of the things the next president will be confronted with. We wish him or her good luck!
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Chuck Norris