Support not tantamount to blind approval

By Caroline May     11/6/08 6:00pm

After months of uncertainty, the longest election in history has come to a close and the country can now accurately identify the next leader of the free world. President-elect Barack Obama, having run a brilliant campaign, deserves all the victory and praise going his way. His triumph was indeed historic, and I will be proud to look to him as my country's leader. But although I am enthusiastic, I do have concerns.Throughout the last two years, Obama promised many things and raised our expectations extraordinarily high. Despite the ostensible closure of his campaign, many Americans still do not know for sure where Obama plans to take this country. Yes, we have heard that he is for hope and change, but, as a newcomer with a short resume, voters approached Obama much like a Rorschach inkblot, seeing what they wanted to see, not necessarily what he is.

Whatever the outcome of the election, half the country would wake up disappointed on Nov. 5. However, as Obamiacs slap on their party hats and blow their victory bugles, the question for many remains this: What exactly does Barack Obama stand for? While he ran as a centrist, his radical associations, voting record (sparse though it is) and his off-the-cuff comments have made a great deal of people hesitant to truly consider him a moderate. I am hopeful that Obama will govern with the pragmatism, bipartisanship and restraint he spoke about on the campaign trail. While I am optimistic, I remain aware that Obama is America's most liberal senator and that his ideological history is quite radical. Though we desire for him to succeed as a leader, we ought to hold him accountable for all his promises of moderation.

While I could go on for days divulging my numerous problems with Barack Obama's ideology, the fact remains that he is to be the next president of the United States. and since he is now the next president of our country, I will support him.

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The momentous nature of the election is, indeed, contagious. Against all odds, this black intellectual, son of a Kenyan goat herder, serving less than 150 days in the Senate, was able to capture a nation. Although John McCain lost and conservatism has been relegated to the periphery, the groundbreaking nature of this election is a bright spot. America truly is a beautiful model of equal opportunity.

Each night before I go to bed I say a prayer for (among others) President George W. Bush. You can be sure that, despite my visceral dislike for Obama's politics, every night hence I will be hitting my knees and praying for his success. Even after such a polarizing election, we are all still Americans, and I am proud to be able to stand with our newly elected leader even if I do fear the direction he plans to take the country. Now for 2012.

Caroline May is a Will Rice College senior.

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