I was thinking recently about a conversation I had with an old friend of mine in San Francisco, in late 2004. He's a moderate guy, but was surrounded by, and worked almost exclusively with, committed liberals. The type of people who don't know a single person who voted for George Bush.
Given the contentious nature of the 2004 presidential campaign -- and the stunning bitterness and embarassing behavior (remember sorryeverybody.com?) from liberals in its wake -- I wondered how he thought his colleagues would deal with the reality of four years of a guy they despised in power, and what they hoped would come out of the election.
He thought about it, and responded, "I think they hope everything falls apart. I think they are hoping for so much disaster, that it scares everyone to their side. That's the best they hope for."
Well, they got it. And, let's face it, the Democrats have been operating as the "everything is awful" party since that time ... even after they took over Congress in the mid-term elections, when they were brought in to do something, and used that as a cue to continue throwing up their hands and bashing Bush.
Well, now it's going to be one party in charge again. The shoe will be on the other foot. As conservatives, what can we hope for? I oppose a lot of what I think Obama stands for (I'm still not sure to what extend his ideology stretches), and I think it may be a disaster if his policies are implemented, but I can't be like my friend's colleagues and hope for the worst.
And this isn't a "that's the difference between conservatives and liberals" post. I'd like to think most of us hope for good times and prosperity, no matter who is in charge. I just know where I stand, and it's not hoping for the apocalypse, that's for sure.
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I won't root for an apolcalypse, but I would sort of enjoy if something were to happen like a dramatic rise in gas prices.
It's always been my contention that there is not much the President can do about the market price of oil, but Obama has run a campaign of insistence that, in fact, he can do something about things like market fluctuations.
It would be a little amusing if he had to prove it, since, as we all know, such proof would be illusive at best, impossible at worst.
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