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At the 11th hour: Obama can lead the nation through crisis

The vast majority of Americans have concluded that President Bush and his Republican Party have failed our country.  

It’s tragic that after the 9/11 attacks, our citizens naturally looked to our President for leadership, but were met mostly with incompetence, from post-Katrina to two wars with no winning strategies, and now this economic meltdown we are in, that includes a national checkbook with a debt of over $10 trillion.  

Bush Jr., Karl Rove and their Republican Party saw 9/11 as a political opportunity to make America a Republican Party country for decades.

The Republican Party sacrificed the needs of the American people in order to further their political agenda, and on November 4, 2008, they will pay a huge political price.

A President Barack Obama is needed during this time of crisis and will serve as an inspiration to our nation and countries all over the world.

Democrats will make gains in the U.S. House (presently at 236 seats and it will go over 250) and in the U.S. Senate.  In California, Democrats will make gains in the State legislature, electing as many as 54 Democrats to the State Assembly.

Additional Democratic priorities are to defeat Propositions 4, 8 and 11 – all extreme measures with different agendas.  Sticking with their anti-choice and anti-gay policies, the California Republican Party supports both Prop 4 and Prop 8.  

Barack Obama will win the presidency for several reasons.

First, America wants an end to the two wars and the terrorist attacks against America and our allies all over the world.  To accomplish this, we must have a stronger military and utilize all out diplomatic efforts.  Just this week we found out that Bush Jr. has authorized talks with senior Taliban leaders.  McCain must be pulling out the rest of his hair.   

I agree with General Petraeus when he says we will not win in Iraq by military means.  McCain spent over five years in a Vietnam POW prison but didn’t learn much evidently, thinking we could have won with more troops (surged to 540,000 troops in 1968) and bombs.   Today the U.S. has full trade and diplomatic relations with Vietnam – a communist country.  We could have skipped the war.  In fact, Vietnam was never accused of even having WMDs.  

Second, Americans want a change in economic policy to create millions of jobs and to save the middle class.   That means strong oversight of all financial institutions.  

Third – our health care system needs to be fixed so cost increases are constrained and the number of uninsured, especially kids, is reduced.  

Fourth, and most importantly, Americans want a President who will offer leadership that gives them hope and a more secure life.

Obama — with his promise of change and giving hope to tens of millions of Americans, especially young people and African-Americans — has run an almost flawless campaign.  Obama has created a campaign structure never seen in American politics.  And his record donor base means Democrats will be out-fundraising Republicans for years.  

While Gore won California by 11.8 points and Kerry won it by 9.9 points, Obama’s California victory will be much closer to 20 points (a margin of more than two million). This will help our whole Democratic ticket.  

Johnson in his 1964 landslide victory won California by 18.3 points.  

In his 49–state sweep in 1984, Reagan won California by only 16.2 points.  

You would have to go back to 1976 for a California voter turnout higher than 80 percent — California on Tuesday could approach the 1976 turnout of 81.5%, unless a lot of disillusioned Republicans decide to stay home.    

As long as the Republicans here in California and nationally hang onto policies from the 1950s, their elected office numbers will continue to dwindle.  After the defeat of Barry Goldwater, the Republicans decided to veer right from the ground up.  They have reaped what they have sown.  

Why has John McCain made his top priority cutting taxes for the very individuals on Wall Street (who McCain himself recently called criminals) who are being “fired” with millions of dollars in severance packages?  They don’t need or deserve another tax cut when America is fighting two wars and dealing with huge debt.    

On election night, I will be watching the results of two states: New Hampshire, which went for Kerry in 2004 but for Bush Jr. in 2000, and Virginia, which has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1964 – 44 years ago.  If both states go for Obama, the fat lady will be warming up for her swan song for McCain.

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