Reflections on the election

With me just starting to get my feet wet in politics, mostly as an observer, and me being currently 24, I thought I would share my learning experiences with you all.
I also have this thing about young people getting more involved in their government- in one way or another. Hopefully this blog will show you why and how you can get involved, or at least, observe.
As those of you who know me know (whoo, that would never pass in a press release!), I work for the House of Representatives as a public information officer (sounds scary but basically I do communications and writing). I love my job. I personally think it's the best ever. Always changing, never boring, room for thinking and new ideas. Plus I work with really great people who have supported my learning and mistakes.
So first, I just wanted to reflect a little on the election. You've probably heard the word "historic" a couple times. And it is, in many ways. Voter turnout, the first black person elected to be president, the second female to run for vice-president, etc. And while I'm excited that we'll have a change in administration (the writers of the Constitution were soo smart- we can always use a little "change" around here!), I'm not too excited about Obama as a policymaker and driver. That's probably the first time you've heard that, huh? First, he believes in socialized health care. Some people think this means I must not care about poor children without doctors checkups or old people without prescriptions, but that's not it at all. I just think socialized medicine will lead to bigger problems and not really solve the problem we had in the first place.
One thing you have to know about politics is that we all want the same thing. We just have different ideas and ways to achive the same goal. For example, on health care, Democrats (in general) believe the government should step up and answer the needs of people without health care. Republicans (in general) support the market and businesses answering the needs of people without health care. The thing is, the problem isn't really that not enough people have health care. A very small population does not have health care- most of them are our age and choose not to have it because they're healthy and want to spend their money elsewhere. The problem is that for families and older people who have health care, they can't afford deductibles and what's left of the bill after insurance picks up part if any of the bill.
Back to Obama. I could be wrong (we'll see come January), but I haven't seen much substance or leadership from him. His plans and ideas that he discussed throughout the campaign seemed to change with the time, the place and the people. Of course, this is true to some extent with any politician (of course you're going to prioritize health care with seniors and education with parents). I don't think he's really ever stood up to his party. He's been the golden child of the Democratic party since he was a state senator- I remember watching a special on him many years ago and them saying that he had so much potential. So he has done what the party has told him to do and not do to get where he's at. Again, this is true for many politicians. But when you're campaigning on change, that's not exactly a great record to prove you can bring change.
Speaking of change, anything would be a change from George Bush. McCain was much more moderate and disagreed with Bush and the Republicans on a wide variety of topics. So even he would have been a change. Plus changing from the Republicans in control of the White House to the Democrats in control of the White House is going to be a change. Not just because of the president, but because of the ideals that each party stands for.
With a huge majority in Congress and power in the White House, we'll see what the Democratic party changes and accomplishes. It's going to be ugly for a couple years- neither presidential candidate would have had much of a honeymoon. Both would be criticized because people aren't going to understand. Whether we raise taxes or cut programs, someone will be hurt.
The real test will be to see if Obama can unite our country on the challenges we must face -- or if he simply panders to his party and doesn't listen to the people and do what's in their best interest (which are sometimes at odds- a true leader will do what's best and still have the people on their side because they have their trust and respect). So for now I'll just be watching and listening. I hope you will be too. It's our job to be the bosses of our leaders- to criticize their job performance, hard work, follow through, and how they work with others. It's also our job to fire them if they are out of line, if someone more qualified or promising comes along, etc.