I think in a sense people are putting too much faith in him. I mean he has some good ideas, but there's no way he can get them all come into reality. Hopefully he actually does do something for the country. He can't really make things worse.

It's just the word 'Change' being said so much that startles me. How many movies about global control show people praising a person and thinking they are everything, when in reality they are the bad guy? And when you are overly hyped about something, you can become blind, and can be persuaded to do a lot. He might make changes that seem good at first but end up being for bad.

When you look back in history, there was a great U.S. President that never actually held a political position before being elected as President. Abraham Lincoln ran for Senator of Illinois, but he lost. His debates with the one who won are what made him popular enough to get elected as President. If someone has good ideas and is at least going to try their best to do as they promised to do, experience may not matter. Look at all of the Presidents who have had experience and screwed up royally. Change may not be so bad in this case.

Is Obama going to fulfill everything he's promised? Of course not. No president ever has. But he's offering the changes that Americans desperately want, and it's built him a huge fanbase. And at this point, it's pretty much an "ANYTHING BUT BUSH" mentality. Because, like Sho said, all he really did was start a war. A pointless war, at that. :\

What I hate the most, is that Hillary wasn't the nomination. She would be a much better president than either of the guys who were in the final election. Betwen the lady who was on the ticket a bunch of years ago, and now the person who was on the republican side, plus the loss of Hillary which shouldn't ever have happened, I am beginning to wonder if this country isn't so much racist as sexist. Why is having a woman wanting to be president or vice president the kiss of death for them?

I'm waiting for our turn. Until then, I don't care a bit about politics.

I have to right an essay on that for my history midterm. It's worth 1% of my final grade, that really motivates me to do it.

Ehhh ... law degrees are basically PHDs in the history of law. It's pretty darn close.

It makes more sense when someone like Ross Perot comes in and says "America needs a CEO," or whatever. Not that I agree with the CEO idea, just that background as a flipside.

Is there actually change? Of course there is. Perhaps not in that grand "everything is going to be different and better" scale, but any time that control of office is handed over to an opposing party there's bound to be change... even if it's only small.

As for Obama, I am completely excited about the fact that he's getting inaugurated tomorrow. Not because he's "black" - despite the fact that he's mixed - but because his campaign ran on some good platforms. If he accomplishes even a fraction of what he attempted to promise, the US will be a better place to live.

I saw him speak while he was campaigning, and the things that he promised for my state alone (which currently has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, and is having a ton of other problems at the moment) were enough to make me vote for him, if nothing else in hope that he'll be able to make good on his word.

It's not just propaganda. Palin is absolutely awful... and I'm not technically a democrat (though I do lean that way).
I happen to have two really good friends from Wasilla, and even before she was picked to be McCain's vice I was hearing about the things she was doing there... and let's just say that as soon as I realized that she was going to be Vice if McCain was nominated, it was enough to sway my vote to Obama whether I was originally going to vote for him or not.

Plus, if you look at it in terms of experience, I wouldn't want her leading our country while McCain was away anyway. Alaska isn't exactly a metropolis - especially Wasilla, which is where she had her longest time in an office (she was only state Governor for two years, she was mayor of Wasilla longer) - how could we expect her to know what's best for the rest of the country? Even assuming that she's not as insane as she actually is, it doesn't work.

Then, when you look at her views on politics, she still isn't the right kind of person to give that much power to.
She wants to drill in Alaska, some of the most beautiful untouched land that still exists in our nation. She won't vote towards putting the polar bear on the endangered species list - despite the fact that their numbers are dwindling to dangerous lows. She's for aerial hunting, which most people - most Alaskans - wouldn't even consider good sport. She's for banning of certain books and even tried to get the librarian at the Wasilla public library fired for not taking certain books off of the shelf. She spent fifteen-million dollars on a sports center for Wasilla, putting the town of only five-thousand people into a 22million dollar debt...She's against gay marriage (which a lot of people are, I just happen to think that it's a ridiculous stance), and doesn't believe in global warming even though scientists can look at us with straight faces now and say "yes, it is happening". That's not the kind of person I'd want making decisions for my country.

@Kamikazi: THIS was the quote, not the well-thought out reply and analyzation of a selection of issues you made.

If you asked most people questions about Sarah Palin they would just have parroted lines out of the Tina Fey skit, not thought about anything at all. That's what propaganda does.

Well, whether anyone likes it or not, tomorrow's the big day! That's right, everyone! Today isn't only MLK Day, but the last day Bush will ever be president. I personally think this is a happy day regardless of who is heading into office tomorrow.

Obama is black, which people think is amazing due to the past history of presidents. I'm currently not putting down an opinion about him yet but sometimes change isn't bad. How i think it is that change is sometimes good if they KNOW what they are really doing. In some cases it really is amazing because he made it into a historical time. Yes because of of his race, but that honestly doesn't make him much different from the others.

All people who try to get elected, tell everyone almost that they are going to make everything better, make prices more acceptable and clean up the economy and make it healthier. But there are still problems out there that they have to face and it can always tweak what they "say" they are going to do before they actually put it into concept. You know what I'm trying to say? It's really all a matter of opinion. Yes I think bush was a very.. not bright guy but i feel this guy might actually know what he's doing.

only 1%? How big of an essay?

I think the fact that its no longer Bush lead teh country is the thing that excites people. People are so looking forward with what actually Obama can produce :yes:

I agree. Normally I would consider it sexist to want to choose over sex/gender..Except when the balance is so far off. Why does this happen?...because the belief that a man is the head of the household. I was reading a magazine the other day and I almost threw it against the room in disgust. It went on about how a wife should respect her husband because he's the head of her family. The belief that our idenity needs to come from patriarchy needs to die off.

When I hear about this racism....I laugh...I ask OK so where are these racially discriminated people?...Are they living in a closet. I have looked around for them actively.
Truth is many of these so called discriminated "minorities" are better off then me the supposed person with racial majority and racial preference.
Nobody has ever treated me special because I was "white"/ Caucasian. Where are my privileges they keep saying my race has?. Truth is I been treated in the way they keep saying supposed minorities are being treated. I have witnessed real discrimination myself trying to get a job.

Say what?.... that's because the real discrimination I deal with around here is about socio- economic class not race.
I am lower middle class. That means it's harder to get ahead and everything about that is a cycle. IF I was high class, then I would get more privileges and this would start a cycle of having a preferred status. It's all about being upper class and wealthy.

I realize these persons once did suffer discrimination and I'd glad for whatever had been done to help even the playing field for them. However, in this day and age...people need to stop it because it's quite laughable in this area. Instead they need to address the very real forms of discrimination going around. Saying us light skinned people are doing fine because of our racial privileges allows us to get ahead, is getting insulting to us.

To answer the original question, I'm quite neutral on our new President. I've heard good things and I've heard bad things. I am often around people who are overjoyed....so I try not to spoil their fun and smile.

I'm just glad that Bush is out. I think that's where most people's praise for Obama is coming from. They're just glad that Bush is gone.

@Claudia. Lol... I can't believe you took a topic on Obama's presidency and turned it around to be all about you.

Discrimination is against the law. If you really did suffer discrimination, you can sue. That's why you don't see it anymore. Why didn't you when you had your incident?

Now, as far as attitudes:

Have you been to the South? Racism is sort of an in-joke down there. People say the most horrific things about black people when they're not around, with a little wink.

I know I've had problems with harrassment when out with people of a different race. I've been seated in parts of restaurants I didn't even know existed when I go out with my friends of color.

The feelings are still there, people are just acting under the radar.

On Hillary. Yes, she was the stronger candidate, but seriously, you can't forget the fact that half the women in the country just see her as a woman who rode on the coattails of her husband. I KNOW Hillary Clinton. My mother grew up with her in Park Ridge, IL. I know what she has been capable of in her lifetime. Do I think she would be a better president than Obama? Yes. Has she been planning for this her entire life? Yes.

The problem with the party is that they see that Bill Clinton had 8 years in office and was barely able to get anything done because the Republicans hated him so much. You can't blame them for electing someone besides Hillary. I'm disappointed Obama hasn't done much as a senator except run for things. Now we'll get to see that he doesn't have anything to run for anymore.

I agree, though his speech was lovely, only his actions can see if he's a really worthy president. Remember Bush's first inauguration? Everyone praised him for his courageous words...

I'll give it a year until I can praise/scold Obama on something.

.

Isn't this a bit sexist in its own right? How can you possibly gripe about America being sexist, when you yourself are guilty of the same?

How so?...there have been 44 presidents, all men. To put it another way, one hundred percent of percent of American presidents have been men. This is not concidence and this is sexism.
On the other hand, as much I love the idea of progress, I would not vote for a woman just because she is not a man.
I was excited about Ms. Palin being on the vice president ticket at first, read about her and said no thanks.
If it was not for the dire history of discrimination prevailing, I would not consider gender a factor.As it stands, I would vote for the next decent woman canidate out there.

I wouldn't have minded Hillary Clinton as president, but I agreed more with Obama's views than I did hers. It wasn't a matter of gender as it was a matter of stance. I would never have voted for McCain, even if he did not choose Palin. If there is ever a female candidate I agree with, then I will vote for her. Until then, males it is.

MaryKay's statement was sexist: I'm waiting for our turn. Until then, I don't care a bit about politics. Simply not caring about politics because it's not the women's turn?

I don`t really care who's the new pres anyway-- I just hope there's change :D
LoL I remember how some of my friends stupidly praises Obama; and when I asked them why they praise Obama they answered : "BECAUSE ONCE HE LIVED HERE."
I laughed-- what a dumb answer. =_="a

I don`t know why, I think Obama's winning is like crazily exciting in my school =_="a [for my friends]. And that's makes me a bit sick of Obama :|

Note :: I`m Indonesian :|