By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Senator Barack Obama will be become the first black president – and one of the most liberal – in U.S. history.
In a hard fought race with Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Obama captured 52 percent of the popular vote along with 349 electoral votes compared to McCain’s 46 percent of the popular vote and 147 electoral votes.
In addition to winning the presidency, Obama will take office with solid Democratic majorities in both houses. Democrats seized five additional Senate seats and 15 Congressional seats in the election, figures that are less than what they hoped for but will still give them the majority in both houses.
However, even with the Democrats controlling the government in a super-majority, analysts say Obama will face significant political challenges in Washington.
Democratic legislators may be too eager to see long-sought policies adopted, said Robert Loevy to the Sacramento Bee. Loevy believes satisfying that demand won’t be easy for Obama, especially with 50 to 60 moderate to conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats in the House who are expected to continue their push for strict limits on spending. Combined with Republican opposition and still-powerful lobbies on behalf of the status quo, some of Obama’s initiatives will probably be stymied.
Enacting controversial social issues may also prove difficult. Even though Obama promised to enact sweeping anti-life legislation such as the Freedom from Choice Act, and Congressional Democrats want to silence conservative talk radio by reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, analysts believe Obama is too politically savvy to risk alienating the nation as President Clinton did in his first two years office when he over-reached on social issues such as the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy for the military. These are exactly the kind of blunders that cost the Democrats control of Congress in 1994.
Experts also believe the daunting task of leading the nation through its most serious economic downturn in a generation is likely to consume most if not all of the next president’s attention, forcing him to put many initiatives on hold, including even health care reform.
In addition to economic issues, Obama is also inheriting a global war on terrorism and a particularly dicey situation in Iraq where most Americans are beginning to smell victory. Although Obama said he wants to remove one to two combat brigades a month, tampering with current policy could be politically dangerous, said Michael Franc, an analyst at the Heritage Foundation.
A dramatic change in policy, Franc said, would make it Obama’s war, “so he has to decide to what extent he wants to be seen as Bush 3.”
If violence expands as U.S. troops withdraw and chaos threatens, would Obama still leave Iraq and risk being blamed for its collapse? If he stayed to avoid such a result, would he forfeit the loyalty of the end-the-war voters who elected him?
Only time will tell how one of the most liberal politicians in America will govern a country where less than 20 percent of the population shares his outlook on life.
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