Presidential Election Reflection

Personally, I was very pleased with the outcome of the recent presidential reflection. However, whether McCain or Obama won it was clear that this was going to be an extremely important and historical election that will definately go down in the history books. The outcome of the election has had an effect on people throughout the world, as well as here at home, especially the implications for the republican party.


The election has definately changed the global perception of the United States of America. The fact that a black man was elected president of the nation that is the leader of the free world is a precedent. I'm sure people around the world were wondering why the so call "free nation" that is supposed to be all about equal rights for everyone and always been run by old white men. Many great nations across the world have welcomed Obama's status as president elect. The prime minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown, stated that Obama's victory would "live in history as long as history books are writen", and that he looks forward to working with the new president elect. The continent of Africa was overwhelmingly full with glee, and the leaders of South Africa trust that Obama will use his presidency to "scourge of poverty and disease everywhere". The region of the Middle East was filled with joy about Obama's victory, especially because George W. Bush will no longer be in power. Through all of the joy across the world over Obama's victory, there were a couple of nations that felt it was the time to threaten Obama, and warn him not to enter in to his presidency with comfort. Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, declared that the Kremlin would station missiles in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, in response to US plans for an anti-missile system in Eastern Europe. While this was in no way a direct threat to Obama it does show that other nations are not going lay down while the world celebrates this fantastic victory. South Korea was yet another nation that is trying to keep Obama in his place, and out of their business. The nation warnedObama against pushing for renegotiation of the bilateral trade pact awaiting ratification. With the exception of these few nations, the world has whole-heartedly welcomed Obama into the leadership role.





The election also had many implications for the Republican party. Not only are they out of the oval office, but also out of the senate and the house. As the CATO Institute Artice suggests, "Republicans will have gone from controlling every arm of government to controlling none,". This loss has promted the debate over what stance the Republican party should take: activist federal government or limited federal government. The base of the Republican party has always centered around a limited government and small spending, but in an economic crisis like that that America is experiencing today some are calling for the Republicans to be more like the Democrats and call for a larger federal government. In times like these I believe that the Republicans should have focused their platform more on an activist federal government, due to the current economic crisis. However, I don't think this election spells any long term doom for the party. Once the nation finds its way throught the mess that it is currently entangled in, the Republican platform of limited federal government will once again be appealing to voters.

My political blog, the Independent Party Blog, does not have any reflection on the election because the blog never did follow the election. Instead, my blog details some of the debates that Yale grad students are arguing over.