When Americans elected an unqualified, untested, unknown man to the office of the presidency, they justified my fears about the seriousness of this electorate. When a majority of voters consider the man unqualified, yet they elect him anyway, that tells me that millions of Americans lack any understanding of the seriousness of this office. This is perhaps not surprising, considering that many of them have formulated their ideas about the presidency from Hollywood's vision of it, with shows like West Wing.
There can be little doubt that Barack Obama won this election on the "new vote", a group I like to call the "formerly disinterested, currently uninformed". For this group, selecting the new president was strikingly similar to selecting the next American Idol. In fact, I'm surprised this wasn't chronicled as a reality television show. How could they have missed that opportunity?
Sure, it's great that people are discovering the power of the vote. But that power comes with an awesome responsibility. For those who's votes decide an election, you have an enormous effect on the lives of the rest of us. I guess I'd just like to think that more went into that decision than just star-struck Obama-mania.
And sure, it's great that a black man was elected president. It was historic, and very exciting. But I guess I don't understand why we couldn't have elected a QUALIFIED black man. Then we could have had the exciting moment without the massive letdown to follow. Obama cannot POSSIBLY live up to the expectations placed on him. He's at a huge disadvantage here. He has absolutely NO relevant experience, and we expect him to take his place among the greatest American presidents. The saddest thing is, he's as clueless about this as many of his fawning supporters. He honestly believes that he's up to any task. No matter that he has no reason to believe that, it's enough that he DOES believe it. He convinced many of you that he believes it, and for you, that was enough.
He said in his speech that he would prove himself to those of us who did not vote for him. I, for one, do not consider him a great president merely because he is the first black man to become president. I expect more. He will not be MY president until he earns my trust and my respect, something that he absolutely did not do during this campaign. Clinton had my approval when he was elected in 1992, and he lost it soon after. Because of that, I never considered him "my president". Obama had my approval early in the primary, but he lost it very quickly. It will take more than a heartfelt speech to recover it. He must prove to me that he can keep my country safe, that he can allow it to prosper, and that he will stand up against those who seek to remake it according to their own agendas, especially those within his own party. If he does these things, then, perhaps, I will call him "my president". If he does not, I will wait for sanity to return to the electorate, when a majority of people take a hard, sober look at the realities of this world, and choose the most qualified, if less sexy, candidate for president.