If He Wins

If Obama wins, I think that it will be very difficult for the Democrats to hold on to power for very long. People are always going to have problems, and likewise, people like to blame the party in power for those problems. Obama seems a lot like Homer Simpson running for Sanitation Commissioner. People expect more of him that he, or anyone else in the world, can provide.

He is running on change, and regardless of his specific campaign promises, people vote for him because they expect him to make their lives better. Even if he is able to keep 100% of his campaign promises, I doubt that he can live up to individual's expectations for the change that he has promised. In 2010 and 2012, when the vast majority of our problems remain, voters will punish the incumbents and start putting the Republicans back in power. I only hope that in the little time he has, he can put back in place the majority of the New Deal and other social welfare programs that Republicans have gradually eroded over the past 70 years, and maybe even sneak in a few new ones, and do it in a way that prevents Republicans from sabotaging them as soon as they are in control again.