Day: November 5, 2008

The Republican party, thought just a few years ago to have an emerging permanent majority, is now at its low point since 1964.

With the loss of the Presidency and continued loss of seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the GOP is in danger of being a long term minority party unless they get their act together and move away from right wing conservatism and toward the moderate center, where the majority of Americans are found.

IF they become an obstructionist party, unwilling to cooperate with the dire need for change in both domestic and foreign policy, then they will be doomed to long term insignificance.  If they allow Sarah Palin or Mike Huckabee to become the future leadership of the Republican party, they will alienate two thirds of the country by catering to the one third which is often defined as Religious Right.  This country rejected in 2008 what has been the dominant influence in the Republican party in the past two and a half decades.  The party has major work to do to regain influence in the industrial Midwest, the Mountain States, the Pacific Coast and the Northeast.  Its influence in the South is waning as well, so the GOP must offer itself as a moderate alternative if it is to revive as a serious challenge to what may have become a new, energized Democratic majority. 

The concept of being a "Rockefeller" Republican , or even the true image of a "TR"  Republican (not the one mistakenly described by John McCain), is essential for the long term success of the GOP.  They must recruit party leadership who understand this need if they are to be a competitive alternative to the Democratic party in 2012 or 2016. And they cannot continue their anti-immigration policy which doomed them among the rising Hispanic population.

The election of Barack Obama as our 44th President is a watershed moment in American history!

It marks the fulfillment of Martin Luther King Jr’s dream as expressed at the March on Washington in August 1963.  It is also the complete fulfillment of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.  It is also the accomplishment of Lyndon Johnson’s pursuit of full equality as represented in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  It also represents the sacrifices of many ordinary Americans who suffered discrimination, lack of equal opportunity, and even death fighting for equal rights and human dignity.

No wonder there were signs of national celebration all over America as well as in foreign nations!  Tremendous crowds came out in NYC, Los Angeles, Washington, DC,  and other cities across America and in overseas capitals, as everyone sensed a new beginning and a sense of optimism!

This is the most exciting moment in Presidential election history since John F Kennedy broke the barrier of religion nearly 50 years ago, in the 1960 election.  We will be sure to hear from the new President the same message that JFK gave us in his inaugural address: "Ask not what your country can do for you!  Ask what you can do for your country!"  Hopefully, the ME attitude of the last generation will now be replaced by the idealism and commitment to the nation that JFK promoted a half century ago!  It is time for WE, not ME in American politics!

The real winner of the 2008 Presidential election is Lyndon Johnson, who had the courage 44 years ago to promote the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress after the longest lasting filibuster in American history.

No one in their wildest dreams could have imagined back then that we would overcome the race issue enough so as to elect an African American President less than half a century after the major struggle that Lyndon Johnson waged to overcome the prejudices of the section he was brought up in and rose to office  from to national power.

If Lyndon Johnson was alive today, he would be very proud of what has occurred and we owe him a debt of gratitude for his contribution to the betterment of America!

President-elect Obama gave this evening an inspirational speech that reminded many of the great speeches of Lincoln, FDR, Kennedy and Reagan.

He called upon America to support him; he promised to keep us informed on what he would do and what he could not do; he reached out to Americans who had not backed his campaign; he made it clear that he would spend every waking moment working on repairing our economy and our world position; he outlined the challenges that he and the nation faced; he declared he would start immediately during the transitional period and inauguration day on planning strategy for the future.

The President-elect’s speech calls us to the challenges of the future and recalls the image of the presidents mentioned above.  The excitement of his election will continue to grow to January 20, 2009 when he will offer his vision of the future to a world and nation counting on him to transform events in a positive way!