A week ago when I was pondering an Obama win, I was filled with dread. I saw myself constantly worrying about the coming crises, worrying about the inevitable four years of recession that will be caused by higher taxes and more government involvement. But I have surprised myself in the last day or two: I’m actually hopeful. Who would have ever imagined that? Certainly not me.
It may be that I am just an irrepressible, optimistic guy. But I think it’s more than that. There is something inside me, emotional and not necessarily rational, that just seems to think an Obama administration will do a lot of good things. As a conservative, I can’t rationally think of very many of them now (I do think taxes will increase, I do think the economy will suffer even more, I do think foreign bad guys will test us even more, I do think Obama will choose horrible judges, and on an on). But then the emotional side says: “wow, look at all the good will we are generating worldwide with our new president. Something good has got to come from that.”
This same dynamic appears to be at work with the appointment of Rahm Emanuel as Obama’s chief of staff. The rational side says, “wow, a horrible partisan, lots of contention, we’re in for some bad times.” The emotional side says, “hey, it could be worse, at least he will be pro-Israel and he’s not a Socialist.”
So, as we move forward into this great American experiment, I am hopeful. I hope I can maintain that hope in the weeks and months ahead.