Last Tuesday, much more quickly than most of us expected, Barack Obama won his campaign for re-election. He will continue to serve as the 44th president of the United States.
Many people, including myself, were disheartened that after several weeks of more optimistic polling numbers and reports of noteworthy gains in battleground states, Mitt Romney didn’t pull out the win. But it makes no sense to lament more than we absolutely must, so to all you liberals out there I offer my genuine congratulations. You won this round. But while we’re at it, here’s just a few of the things you get to look forward to in the coming years:
More Gridlock – The election, in a purely legislative sense, accomplished nothing. The House majority stayed staunchly Republican, and the Senate is still held by Democrats. Obama was elected again, though by a more narrow popular vote gap of 50 percent to 48 percent. The House, ultimately, will spend four more years continuing to butt heads with a senate and president with radically different beliefs.
The Fiscal Cliff – The upcoming lapse of Bush-era tax rates is slated for next year, which will result in steep across-the-board tax increases for all tax brackets. This will combine with several other laws and policies that are all slated to hit in an effect that has been dubbed the “fiscal cliff.” Many of the policies that are contributing to this effect were pushed by none other than President Obama himself, so there’s a very low likelihood that they will at all be reversed or moderated in the interest of fiscal solvency. But this time, Obama won’t be able to pass the buck back to George W. Bush’s previous term as a source of blame.
Health Care – Now that Obama has been reelected, Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act face more or less impossible odds. Some may find this to be a welcome development, but it comes at enormous costs. Many of the taxes and fees associated with the legislation will soon be upon us, and in August we will see the full enforcement of the controversial birth control and abortion mandates that were met with fierce opposition from Catholic leaders and other religious groups. This will continue to be a hot issue through the rest of Obama’s second term.
Continued High Unemployment – Many business leaders were criticized before the election for sending letters to their employees informing them that their companies would face harsh financial challenges if Obama was reelected. Apparently, these threats of hardship were not empty: the day after President Obama won, the stock market took a sharp dive of 300 points. Further, dozens of businesses have announced major layoffs and restructuring plans in light of the upcoming financial climate. Battery-maker Energizer alone announced over 1,500 layoffs between now and 2014. More businesses will follow Energizer’s lead, as their only alternative will be to join the hundreds of American businesses that have already collapsed in the recession.
Instead of the “hope and change” that so many people believed President Obama would bring with him into office, we will instead be greeted with conflict and – if the financial climate continues to go spiraling downward – austerity measures. Some may think I’m being bitter or spiteful, but it’s a matter of fact that these were all known issues before the election. The problems they present will continue to exist unless some drastic measures are taken to resolve them.
Maybe I’m wrong about this. After last Tuesday, nothing’s impossible. But unless the laws of economics and finance magically change to make Obama’s policies work, I probably won’t be, and we’re going to have a tough four years ahead of us.
I also have a brief word for conservatives (and libertarians) who may still be feeling the pain of the loss: remember that the principles we were trying to uphold in this election are still valid and still viable. Republicans are going to have some hard conversations over the coming months about how best to market themselves in future elections, and those conversations are long overdue. This, however, shouldn’t undermine our values. While the next several years will be extremely challenging, we will still be able to fight on the local level, and can still come back in the 2014 midterm to make further gains in Congress and the Senate.
This election shouldn’t prompt us to withdraw, but to fight even harder for the future.
David Giffin is a second year Masters in Theological Studies student at Candler School of Theology from Charleston, Ill.
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Your concerns may be well-founded and come from a sincere place of care for the well-being of all Americans, but your binary polarization of the issues is confrontational, avoids the benefits of the policies you outline here, and fails to offer a sound alternative (much like Romney failed to do). Finger pointing never gets one anywhere. I learned this in elementary school, and perhaps all parties should take notice.
Obama is, by no means, a perfect president. But, because of his work in the last four years (and campaign efforts) young people have proven their enthusiasm and participation in the democratic process is not an aberration, the LGBT community has an advocate in the Oval Office, immigrants have an improved chance of pursuing work and peace within our borders, those with pre-existing conditions or those unable to find work will not be turned away by profit-seeking insurance companies, the longest military campaign (based in Bush-era fiction) is over in Iraq, the American auto industry is rolling again, and women nation-wide need not fear an unwarranted limitation of programs that provide valuable services, family planning, and contraception.
I believe the next four years will be better than the past four. But, with such a pessimistic, defeatist approach, it’s hard to say is Republicans really will yield to the will of the people this time ’round.
Spoken like a true liberal. It is fine to have such opinions, however misguided or biased they are. Now it is time for the electorate to take their medicine and deal with the consequences of their choices.
@lol no: Luckily, the electorate can take its medicine now without worrying about going bankrupt.