A Reflection on the Election

It has been 2 days since the dawning of a new chapter in American history, and I am feeling two very profound emotions.

I am profoundly moved that some of my overseas friends who do not know our President-elect Obama have shed tears of joy for the American people when we elected him on Nov. 4th. A fellow passenger whom I met on the Royal Scotsman Train recently emailed me to say as he and his family was watching the US election on TV in Italy, they cried in joy for the American people. And he told me a recent poll in France showed that 93% of the nation would have voted for Obama.

It is then that I am equally profoundly disturbed that in our own nation, people have become so polarized during this entire process where (correct me if I am wrong), many supporters of McCain / Palin are so hateful of Obama that one could feel the venom of abhorrence for him and for his supporters (just witness all the exchanges on Face Book between the 2 camps of supporters and editorials in newspapers). However much one dislikes Obama on policy, experience or ideological grounds, one must give this junior senator enormous credit of galvanizing a team of smart and focused lieutenants and a record number of people to work on his campaign and executing an impeccable campaign. If a CEO of a corporation has the ability to galvanize his or her people to garner record market share or earnings, he or she would be deemed successful. And if such is the criterion by which one judges the CEO of the USA, then I say Obama is showing early signs of being a successful president. I voted for Obama based on my belief that he has the ability to EXECUTE his strategy because he is smart, and he will by and large pick the right team to help him with the enormous task of rebuilding America both on the domestic and international stage.

So to the anti-Obama folks, I implore you to do the following: instead of calling names or making judgments about the people who supported our President-elect, or calling for the early demise of his ability to do a good job, why don’t we all unite behind him and help him restore America’s respectability and economic prowess? If we are living in this country (and I am assuming we are living here by choice), then why don’t we stand behind Obama and prove the rest of the world that they are right – that the American people made the right choice. The alternative is simple, we can always leave the country if we don’t like what we see.

UNITE WE STAND, AND DIVIDE WE SHALL FALL (OR FAIL)!!

http://www.aarp.org/issues/dividedwefail/