To Be Perfectly Clear

"Let me make myself perfectly clear..."

So said Richard Nixon. So say I.

I am very happy that Barack Obama has been elected president. I admire John McCain and think he is a man of good judgement (never mind the Palin thing), honor (never mind the Keating thing...) and integrity. He would have been adequate.

But after the past 8 long years we need something else. Mickey Mouse might have been better (never mind the Disney thing) but we need much more than a rodent in the White House.

I never cared that Obama was "inexperienced." I never cared that he's half black (or half white...) I never cared that he didn't wear a flag pin in his lapel.

I only cared that he was smart (very smart) and willing to listen (seemingly)

The problems that we face as a nation are so vast and complicated that we need someone in the Oval Office who is willing to talk about the issues from a national perspective...what's good for the country, as a whole...not just what's good for the party or oneself.

It remains to be seen how much Obama will transcend politics as usual and restore intelligence and humility to the executive branch. I hope he delivers on the promises of change. I hope he listens to his inner voice that says, "Make it better. Make it work right again."

Too many people all over the country and the world are waiting to see what he'll do. People are encouraged by his mere presence and are feeling better about the possibilities for the future even before he has been sworn in.

My great fear is that he is not what he says he is. That he is a snake oil salesman and that he has capitalized on a moment of national vulnerability to ride the palpable discontent with W. into the White House. My fear is that he'll succumb to the same temptations that have sunk so many other presidents. That he'll think he's bigger than the office. We just came off of 8 years of unbridled arrogance. We really can't afford another 4.

And I'm afraid that Obama will get whacked (not literally, Godforbid) by the realities of Washington. The back room, old boy, lobby driven environment that makes governing and legislating so difficult.

We are a country of tiny little constituencies and voter blocs, each bent on securing from the Feds their own little piece of the pie (the former Sen. Ted Stevens comes to mind...)

Obama will disappoint people who don't agree with his choices. He'll anger people who feel that they have been disenfranchised by the desicisons he makes against their narrow interests. He will be fighting with Congress on a daily basis trying to get his bills passed.

It will be uphill all the way.

Is he up to it? Does he have what it takes? Is he the real thing?

We'll see.

But let me be perfectly clear. I want him to succeed. I think he can. "The question is, and this is the only question..." (Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Departed"),

...will we let him...?