One of the biggest failures of the Bush administration was the disjointedness of policy — nothing was thought out across the government. The impact of an action of homeland security wasn’t considered in light of energy, for instance. Creeping waste follows. And look at how we’ve paid for it; with the loss of a third of our economic value, crumbling infrastructure, a trashed constitution (how many signing statements?), serious setbacks in scientific research, and two wars.

We are adults, and at least Obama wants to evaluate and address our problems in an adult manner. You should be thanking God, not throwing petty insults. Bush was the President of strutting self-aggrandizement, a cowboy with nothing to offer but cutting shrubs in TX; McCain thought he was owed the job but could not offer a single reason why but cutting taxes.

Shame on you conservatives. You’ve bankrupted the country, and you’re still whining.

Time to grow up and take responsibility for your actions. America isn’t the only nation; recently it’s been among the most destructive of nations. If you keep it up, we’ll be a backwater soon; China has the money; India and Korea will be the innovators, Brazil will the the Western-Hemisphere strength. You can’t just wave a flag and chant USA and have everything be okay. You’ve got to educate kids and make sure they’re healthy (It’s an investment in the future), invest in infrastructure, protect the water air and soil. . .these are the real conservative values. Conserving the future. Not clinging to the past. So grow up yourself, take responsibility for your lack of action, and work to repair the damage you’ve done with your lackluster president.

I have to disagree with you. Although I think your assessment of Obama is correct before he became President, the incentives are different now that he has been elected. The way I see it, Obama was pragmatic and consensus-oriented before the election because he really is a person who likes accommodation and consensus, but also because as someone with presidential ambitions, he had to stay close to the center so as not to scare voters, especially considering how inexperienced he was; he would have never been elected had his positions not been establishment approved; he would have been seen as a naive young dangerous fool.

But now that he is President, the incentives are changing. His ambition will push him to be reelected (but that is not a problem now and he will probably have a good honeymoon period before he has to worry about this) and, more importantly, to build a strong legacy. Obama has a strong sense of history; as long as he is not fighting for reelection, his ambition will push him to put his mark on the country and the world. He will not reach the level of Jackson, Lincoln and FDR by only following consensus.

His style will not change much though; on a wide range of issues he will be the same pragmatic centrist we’re now accustomed to. But he will act very boldly on a few select issues, like alternative energy, climate change and health care. The first two topics he can position himself as the first President who “gets it” and health care he might attempt to go for universality of health care (although he did not support it during the campaign, Congress might go for it if they feel they can). Also it appears that he might attempt to bring a resolution to the Kashmir problem and he supports the Arab Peace Initiative for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both can only be qualified as very bold proposals; and incidentally, if either succeed, Obama would widely be hailed as one of the best “peacemaker” of our time.

Barack Obama was a man ambitious enough to become President of the United States at 47 years old. That ambition is not going away. And unlike many other Presidents, Obama is lucky enough to be elected in a very favorable political climate; I’m sure he will use it to continue his self-aggrandizement.

Oh that would be great. I just want to dwell on that image for just a moment. Kucinich following in the footsteps of Jefferson, Madison, Webster, Powell… albeit in shoes about 5 sizes smaller.

That would definitely be an act of peace in terms of foreign policy. You don’t whip out Denis Kucinich in your cabinet because you are looking to clean house with extreme prejudice in the Middle East.