An open letter to President Elect Obama.

Note: I wrote this the day after the Presidential election and sent it to Obama via his website. I got a very nice "Thank You for your support" email in return. After revisiting it I don't think I was very far off.

Dear President –Elect Obama,

Congratulations on winning the Presidency of the United States. Democracy is awesome, isn’t it? Of course, I didn’t vote for you. I didn’t vote for you because I believe you ran a campaign based on rhetoric, I didn’t vote for you because I don’t believe my tax dollars should be “redistributed” to those not willing to put in a hard day’s work, I didn’t vote for you because I don’t think one term in the Illinois State Senate and one term in the United States Senate qualifies you to be President, I didn’t vote for you because of who you called your friends, advisors and acquaintances before they became a political liability, and I didn’t vote for you because I don’t think you can effectively run our military. However, as I stated before Democracy is awesome, and today I am your constituent.

As your constituent I, as with the rest of the Country, expect you to follow through on your campaign promises. However I, unlike the slight majority of the Country, am not optimistic about the direction you are about to take us. Part of what scares me the most about your Presidency is your liberal voting record in Congress and the fact that with the balance of power as it is, starting on January 20th, our country will essentially be govern by a one party system. One would “Hope” that you will make decisions with the best interests of our country at heart, not the best interest of your party.

“Hope” and “Change” are powerful words and you were brilliant to use them as you did. Now it’s time to back them up. Webster defines change as “to make different…” and as I see it, your promise of “Change” starts in your Cabinet. Appointing long time Washington Democrats is not the way to change Washington. That’s business as usual. You’ve talked the talk, will you walk the walk?

How are you going to pay for your proposed programs, you know your campaign promises? You’ve told us what you’re going to do, now it’s time to tell us how. How many pet projects and pork filled bills are you going to allow Congressional Democrats to push through? And like it or not, politics is a nasty business, what Democrat sponsored bills are you going to pass through your office that are based on nothing more than spite for the Republican Party? Unite, remember?

How are you going to unite? I’m sorry but a token bipartisan bill so you can get a photo op is not going to cut it. How are you going to reach across the aisle? How are you going to withdraw from Iraq without enabling a terrorist state? What’s your exit strategy? What’s the collateral damage going to be when you’re “tested”?

You have a very big job ahead of you; are you up to it? Personally I don’t think so. Until you actually deliver on your words, I’ll be here in Iowa quietly practicing the first amendment and organizing my community.