The Respectfully Republican Conversation

Hi Shirley,

I guess I feel a little better after venting, even though I bit my tongue and didn't say half of what I would like to say. LOL!  I really do fear for our country.  Right now, it doesn't look good for John McCain.  -- Amy

Sorry Rosemary, but Obama just landed Ohio.  I am interested though to see the popular vote within 1 % yet electoral votes so far apart.  Seems so odd how that can happen.

Card check...BO voted for..end of secret ballot for union elections.  Will BO go along with this or will he scoot over toward the middle?

For those on the Obama thread CONGRATULATIONS!  I would bring you my congrats "in person" but I'm not welcomed there. 

Shirley

He was not our guy, but he is the next President.  I will respect the Office that he holds.  I hope the eloquence and optimism he portrayed will keep our country strong.  May the next four years bring prosperity and a cure to the beast known as breast cancer.

Hail to the Chief.

Me too, congrats to all his supporters.  Enjoy.

Well, Shirley and all, we had fun discussing the issues.  I'm going to miss Sarah.  I had such high hopes for us ladies.  I'll have to think about where I'm going to spend my $1000 refund check.  Then Pelosi wants to send us some money too.  Hey, we're in the chips.

I cannot say I am so impressed with this speech by John McCain, what a wonderful and respectful speech that has to be the hardest speech to ever give.  Well done John McCain!

Am sad, but I love my country and will support my president.  What a wonderful speech from McCain, such sincerety, love, and respect was shown.  God bless him.

Yes, LuAnn, it must have been a very hard speech after campaigning for so very long.

Dotti, there are/were answers we wanted answered.  We never got the answers.  We wanted to know what has Obama ever done..ever gotten accomplished.  There's a lot of questions, but my hope is that Obama will lead this country and do a wonderful job. 

One person on the other thread said she would transfer to another country if McCain won.  I said no one's making me leave my country. 

I don't think McCain was mean.  No meaner than Obama.  Obama mocked McCain..made fun of him...things that McCain brought up that we wanted answers to. 

Now, I have to pray for God to give me peace about this election.  I'm grateful that I had somewhere where I could go for "support" and discussion on this topic.  I found that my friends who were voting for McCain didn't want to talk about the election.  I found that so many people didn't know one thing about either candidate.  One brilliant person just found out that McCain had graduated fifth from the bottom of his class and she was voting for Obama.  She knew nothing about Obama either.  When I pointed out some things her BRILLIANT friend (as she put it) from California didn't know squat and my emails, she said, drove him nuts.  I asked her to have him email me.  You see, when someone makes up their mind they don't care to hear about the candidate...they just know they're voting for him/her.

I'm proud of McCain and the campaign he ran.  However, when he left for Washington..my brother and I talked about this..his a repub from Texas...we knew he had made a mistake.  And it was used against him.

Obama ran a great campaign as well.  He had so much more money than McCain. 

I shouldn't rehash things that can't be undone.  It's done and we have a new president.  Now, I will watch and see what he's going to do. And I pray he does what's right.  And I hope he makes the rest of the world love us again.

Shirley

Anne, I agree.  And thank you for being so kind. 

Shirley

How disappointing and sad for our country.

McCain's speech was very gracious indeed.

Thank you Summer. I believe so as well.

Cherryl

Well, Russia is speaking LOUDLY!

Shirley

Congratulations to the Obama supporters.  Although I favored McCain, I appreciate the historic nature of this election and I congratulate the U.S. for finally jumping this very big hurdle.  I think it's wonderful that an African American has been elected president.  Personally I wish that it had been a different African American, but so be it. 

While I recognize and applaud the significance of this election for America, I have to say that I do find it a bit amusing the way that the talking heads on t.v. are patting themselves on the back and talking about the global significance of this election, saying that the election of an African American has moved the U.S. to the front of the line as a shining example of a country where race is not a barrier to success.  There is no question that the global reaction to the election of Barack Obama is very positive.  After 8 years of George W. Bush, who was so unpopular outside of the U.S., there is pleasure at the election of a Democrat.  Many around the world also hope that by electing a 'global' president (black, white, Kenyan, American, Indonesian), the U.S. will have a more global perspective and a better understanding of cultures beyond the U.S..  And the rest of the world shares with Americans the delight in seeing the race barrier in the U.S. finally broken. But breaking the race barrier was an issue of U.S. historical significance; in so many countries around the world, these types of barriers have already been broken.  In countries where you'd least expect it, either a woman or someone of ethnic/racial minority has already held the leadership and/or run for the leadership without race or gender being an issue.  Margaret Thatcher in the U.K..  Gold Meir in Israel.  Indira Ghandi in India.  Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan.  Angela Merkel in Germany.  Nelson Mandela in South Africa.  Alberto Fujimori in Peru.  The election of an African American as president of the United States is very significant for the U.S. and this is recognized globally, but globally in many ways this simply catches the U.S. up with much of the rest of the world.   For that, it's wonderful and it's about time.  Now if only the glass ceiling could be broken and a woman could finally be elected!

As for what happens to the U.S. and the world under Obama's leadership, that remains to be seen.  If he tries to implement much of what he has talked about during the campaign, I think the honeymoon will be over quickly, both in the U.S. and globally.  And the results will not be good.  On the other hand, Obama has said that he is pragmatic and not an ideologue, and if he tosses aside the campaign promises and forgets about positions he has taken in the past and instead governs based on the needs of the current times, he may do very well.  Let's hope.