The best thing about clean starts is they are psychologically free from the baggage that might have otherwise encumbered how we think about the future. As I listened to Pres. Obama's inaugural speech this morning I felt the collective hope that he has for our nation in light of the current challenges we face. I think he genuinely wants what every president before him has wanted, a shot at making things work...his way. From what I've seen so far, his way includes persuasion, it includes consensus building, and it includes challenging people to do things they have not done before, perhaps in ways that have not been done before. He is my president, and I wholeheartedly support him in his efforts.
Pres. Obama does have challenges before him though, political and otherwise. I think the principle challenge he will face is to change the way many MANY of his supporters view the government. Whatever time he spends managing expectations with those who think big government spending and quasi-accountable leadership is going to solve the same problems it created will be time well spent. I am reminded of an interesting quote about friends and choices "You start to lose friends the minute you have to make choices." Until now the choices Pres. Obama has had to make are incomprehensibly minute compared to the choices he faces in the next four years. I hope, and I mean that in every sense of the word, that our "rock star" President, has some rocks of his own, that he is prepared to steel his back, open his ears, and use his highly effective rhetoric to help America, and Americans turn inward and ask "what can I do differently that will help America?" Repentance, a turning away from what has ailed us, and turning towards that which blesses and secures is the way ahead. That Barrack Obama can get us turning inward is the audacity of my hope.
