Originally Posted By jonvn Funny thing is he's not going to change much of anything. He can't. It's all pretty much set up a certain way, and there is little wiggle room in how it goes.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan The tone of debate can certainly be changed. Policies can be changed. And the mood of the country can be changed. Priorities can be changed, especially if a president is able to get buy in from a large percentage of the population.
Originally Posted By jonvn "The tone of debate can certainly be changed. Policies can be changed. And the mood of the country can be changed. Priorities can be changed" What specifically do you think will be or can be changed?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Specifically, energy policies. I think we can have a "we'll put a man on the moon" style series of speeches and initiatives to harness the innovation and creativity in this country to begin seriously making efforts at developing energy that isn't so oil-reliant. That's not something we've gotten from this administration -- and why would we? The president is an oil man at heart. I think we'll see a change in terms of international relations for the better. The next president can change some of the "you're either with us or against us" mindset this administration has set up, perhaps do some patching up amongst allies and those on the fence. Spending priorities. To address issues like healthcare and infrastructure, we'll have to readjust priorities. While the president alone can't do this, certainly the bully pulpit is the best place to make the case for where the nation's spending priorities ought to be.
Originally Posted By jonvn I hope he does something with energy policies. But the problem is he has a recalcitrant Republican group in congress who can block any such thing. Same with the healthcare and infrastructure issues. He can go about mending international relations, as that is something that is very much within the confines of the Administration. But without the backing of Republicans, nothing domestic is likely to be achieved. I suspect they will not be in a coopertive mode. They'll probably go back to the way they were before they took over congress in the mid 90s. Sniping, confrontational, bitter, and obstructionist.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>But without the backing of Republicans, nothing domestic is likely to be achieved. << True, but they become obstructionist at their own peril if Obama is able to sell an idea to the public at large, only to have the GOP block it. We'll see. A lot of it depends on how close the election is, too. If it's a landslide for Obama, Republicans will have to go along with more things just to hang onto what they've got. If it's really close, not so much.
Originally Posted By jonvn "they become obstructionist at their own peril" You'd think that. That seems reasonable. But it worked for them in the 90s. Right now, Obama is behind McCain. Here's an article....and it mentions messianic junk, too. I'm NOT the only person seeing that! <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/02/barackobama.johnmccain" target="_blank">http://www.guardian.co.uk/comm entisfree/2008/mar/02/barackobama.johnmccain</a>
