Finally a new President of the United States

I have not been keeping up with the blog these days. The commute into New York everyday is using up about 3 hours of my time per day. The Blackberry is OK for sending and receiving emails as well as playing around with Facebook. It is not handy for updating this blog. Enough of the excuses and on with a new post.

We finally got a new President. Not sure why anyone would want the job these days. Like most of the country I am pretty excited on how things turned out. While I have never voted Republican in my life it does not mean that I could not vote Republican. My politics runs toward to the middle which means I am a Social Liberal and a Fiscal Conservative.

As far as I can tell over the the last 16 years or more the Republican party's words have not matched their actions. They say they want smaller government but then attempt to legislate personal choice. They inherited a balance budget with a surplus in 2000 but then cut taxes and started an expensive war that did provided very little value to the American public. We have also squandered the goodwill that the rest of the world gave us after September 11, 2001.

While I like John McCain it would have been hard for me to vote for him since it became obvious that a vote for John McCain was a vote for the continuation of the policies of the Bush Administration. Mr. McCain seems like a man who I would be proud to shake his hand. However, the John McCain the candidate almost made me lose respect for John McCain the man. I think he lost a great opportunity to show that he was an agent of change as much as anybody but instead he dropped back into the old Republican playbook. Mr. McCain probably would not have won the election but the country probably would have been better served had a different campaign been run.

I originally thought the selection of Sarah Palin was a great political move. While she did tend to scare the hell out of me I could definitely see her value. She knew what her role was and she went out did it. I can certainly respect the speaking skills that she has and her willingness to be the Pit bull for the McCain Campaign. While I am very glad that she is not a heartbeat away from the Presidency I cannot but help admire her for what she has been able to accomplish.

Now that the campaign is over I have noticed that Gov. Palin is now being trashed. Michael Vick treated his Pit bulls better than this. These people sent Palin out to do the dirty work and then do not even give her a pat on the head and a bone take back to the yard. The whole concept is so offensive. It is yet another indicator that I made the right choice in voting booth. I wish Sarah Palin good luck in her career just not as President or Vice President.

Not only does Barack Obama have his dream job but he has the majority in Congress and the Senate. This should make change easier but it does not guarantee accomplishments. The first term of the Clinton Administration is probably a good example. President Clinton had not become the rock star that he is today and was a little star struck. I think that Barack Obama would do well to learn this lesson. I do think that Mr. Obama has already become the rock star and may not have the same learning curve.

It goes without say that the most important cabinet position selection will be Secretary of Treasury. I have heard Jon Corzine mentioned as a possibility. I hope not. In fact I am willing to continue to deal with him being the Governor of New Jersey for the good of the country. I would like to see Robert Rubin but I do not think he wants the job.

New President or not we have a couple more tough years ahead of us. President Obama is going to have some tough decisions and I am sure the good folks at Fox News will be available to wrongly micro manage every decision. It seems like they are only willing to support a President if it is the one of their choosing.

I am excited about the future. The new President is a good first step. It will be interesting to see how the strategy unfolds. I have no idea what I would do so I am sure that Obama team is probably not sleeping a whole lot.

I have some bike related postings to do maybe next time.