I know we are all caught up on the election right now, and that is certainly appropriate. This thing is far from over, and anything can happen in a month.
Even so, I think it is appropriate to consider what is going to happen after the election.
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Let's start out with what happens if McCain wins? First, almost everyone in the world will be praying for McCain's good health. Please, let us never have to utter the words "President Palin". But beyond that, how can McCain govern? Given his "scorched Earth" campaign, he will be facing some real animosity in Congress. It is almost a given that Congress will have Democratic majorities in both houses. Will Congress be willing to work with him? Will he show any interest in compromise or consensus, or will he be a Bush style 50% +1 leader?
Just for the sake of argument, let's say that her really does make an attempt to build a consensus government. How should Democrats respond? Can we trust him?
On the other hand, let's think about an Obama victory.
first thing to note is that there will be no honeymoon. Certainly not with the traditional media. Fox and the talking heads will start ripping into him the day he is inaugurated. However bad things are when he takes office, you can be sure that it will become his fault at once.
But the more interesting thing for me is how should he (and by extension we) deal with Republicans? With Democratic majorities in both houses, Obama could basically ignore the Republicans. But should he?
It seems to me that there are a lot of dissafected Republicans these days. It seems to me that it would be an ideal time to try to build a consensus government. He would have to find Republicans that are willing to work with him. There are many beyond hope, But there are, I think, a number who want to take the Republican party back from the nutjobs that are running it. While I am a proud Democrat, I want to see a sane Republican party replace the nutjobs. Can we, should we help?