An Election Commentary

What just happened?
As I watched the riveting election coverage Tuesday night I was fascinated with the joy displayed by the enthusiastic crowds not only here but world-wide. That an everchanging America had turned to a bi-racial man, born in Hawaii, educated in Indonesia, raised by a single parent, with family spread all over the world to lead a nation in economic crisis while fighting two wars was of such significance that even the most cynical had to marvel at the moment. After an endless endurance-contest of a campaign, an impressed nation turned to Barack Obama to pull us out of the quicksand.
How could we get to this incredible historical marker?

I’m reminded of the mid 90’s when I experienced a diversity initiative at Ford. Ford made a conscious effort to promote and call in a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds not because it was the right thing to do, but because it was good for business.

I often say that there’s a group of people that won the sperm lottery – they were born white in America, thus endowed with a huge head start on the billions who aren’t. That means Little League rather than picking fruit. It means fishing as a hobby rather than a necessity. It means hearing about kids starving in Africa instead of actually starving in Africa. It means an incredibly gifted existence of easy weekends, soccer practices, family picnics, beach trips, second homes, country clubs, season tickets, HBO, and being treated to an almost daily introduction of some new technology. It means running on a treadmill rather than some Kenyan dirt road. It means wondering about who to vote for on American Idol tonight instead of wondering if the village will be raided tonight. It means watching Dancing with the Stars, instead of sleeping under the stars. For many our life’s work is learning and preserving a family business. I usually rant from my couch, with my big-screen, high def TV in front of me. It’s the fourth couch of my adult life. I’m so lucky. Many people in this world will never own a couch, much less get to see Jessica Alba in High Definition. I didn’t invent capitalism or democracy, but I sure was born into a great club. Keeping perspective should be a higher priority. Our club works hard, but we work to prosper, not to survive.

So, back to what just happened.
First it must be said that George W. Bush happened. His approval ratings sank at home as his policies made the world see the United States as an aggressor rather than a peacemaker. The great empathy that 9/11 had generated worldwide turned to anger as we invaded a country looking for something we never found. To make matters worse, we declared “mission accomplished” and then muddled around for 7 more years trying to accomplish it, with the 9/11 perpetuator still at large. We topped this off by borrowing all the money to fight the war, and as the debt mounted to unprecedented levels, the economic foundation began to shake and shudder. The once robust American economy began to nosedive, dragging the rest of the world behind. Suddenly, instead of needing a skilled warrior, it began to look like we needed a skilled peacemaker.

So Bush beat McCain for the second time. Beat him in the primaries in 2000 with his Rove bag of dirty tricks (in retrospect wouldn’t we have been better off with McCain then) and then beat him again this year by leaving the pool table with no good shot.

The campaign predictably morphed into the longest blame game this side of Bill Buckner.
The Democrat was accused of being Unqualified, Un-American, Anti-American, anti-war, anti-Semitic, tax-raising, not-lapel-pin-wearing, Muslim, wealth-spreading, terrorist-associating, communist, fascist, socialist.

The Republican was accused of being a too-old, impulsive, combative, nasty, hawkish, self serving, pandering, dubious judgment, shadow of his former Maverick self, flip-flopping, out of touch military man who had stood up to Bush years ago, but stooped to mimeographing the Bush policy playbook this time.

As Cyberbull flowed it was so impressive that a steady Obama refused to get swift-boated like John Kerry, or chadded like Al Gore and went on the offensive just enough to dispel the lies without unleashing similar attacks on McCain. Never once did Obama mention McCain’s Keating Five scandal which couldn’t have been more relevant with the Wall Street crisis. America picked the man who had run the better campaign as the man who would do better at pulling together the almost impossible-to-run U.S. Government. He never wavered from his message of hope and change. The hardest thing to fathom is why anybody would want the job, especially now.

Meanwhile, a bailout package and stimulus packages didn’t seem to improve the economy, suggesting that a world-wide economy was a little more complicated than trickle down economics. Trickle down hasn’t trickled in a long time. The “cut taxes” message which has always so impressed the electorate rang hollow, as if we finally realized that cutting taxes is not a perpetual activity. The money for roads, bridges, schools, and wars has to come from somewhere. We don’t like taxes, but I guess we like dirt roads less, not to mention un-cared for veterans who’ve been deployed over and over.

It was amazing to me that Obama actually proposes rebuilding the infrastructure, including the power grid, and making energy reinvention a center piece of a new economy, creating jobs and a return to prosperity. This is impressive, visionary stuff. I’ll be even more amazed if he pulls it off. If our economy gets moving again maybe we’ll do as good a job rebuilding New Orleans as we will at rebuilding Bagdad (and Iraq has money – Louisiana doesn’t. I guess war entitles a country to the ultimate corporate welfare.)

Meanwhile the business world is scared to death of Universal Healthcare, when it is the union-demanded health care costs that, built into our products, has made us uncompetitive and is just another thing that cost us jobs. A dilution of Health Care costs may just work. Some call it socialism. But most of us wonder if we can’t take care of our sick how good a nation are we?

My sincere hope is that the new President can rally the troops – the ones who sit in chairs in the Capital. He needs to build a consensus and attack problems with a united front. The democrats gave Bush everything he wanted over the last 8 years lest they be seen as unpatriotic and unsupportive of the troops. That Bush’s ill-conceived or poorly executed policies imploded just set the table for the Democrats. It seems that 8-year Presidents can’t avoid going out on the downslide.

Don’t expect the Republicans to be as accommodating. They still have a very clear ideological base - their numbers and support are just shrinking. Or, more accurately it could be said that the Democrats are out-recruiting and out-registering them. Don’t be fooled. Remember Ken Starr? This is a new day, with new weapons. Every square inch of media, turf, and air space is an ideological battle ground. People still fall for Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity’s angry dribble that assumes or wishes for a frozen culture. The windbags of America always have the answer – even when there is no answer.

The President-elect may well be overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the presidency of this incredibly complicated and ever-changing country. The question may well be not “why would anyone want this job,” but “who could possibly do this job?”

With decimated markets and failed policies in abundance, where does he start the rebuilding process? Is there any low-hanging fruit that he can pick right away? The lucky sperm club that is the most worried, actually has the least to worry about. Relax, sit back, and watch your 401K. We’ve never understood the underclass that just overran the election. They wanted change, they needed change, and they got change. Will it help them? In 4 years we’ll be better off – will they?

I hope we all will. In one night we recaptured the world’s imagination as the most amazing country that’s ever been. We chose Diversity. Not just because it was the right thing to do, but because it was good for business.