President Obama spent most of his presidency in a very comfortable position. He was surrounded by people who praised him, he had a solid majority in Congress to back him, and it seemed like the bulk of entertainers (because you know their political opinions are important) the media, and even the world thought Obama could do no wrong. The president was so popular that he even won a Nobel Peace Prize almost before he could sit down in the Oval Office! On November 4, 2014, that comfortable position got a lot less comfortable.
While he had all the power in Washington, Obama pushed the Affordable Healthcare Act (an oxymoron if ever there was one) into the face of every single American and basically said, "Deal with it." His supporters rallied behind him when the Supreme Court side-stepped the issue and ruled that "Congress has a right to tax"- a ruling that neither the plaintiff nor the defendant had argued for and both seemed surprised. He caused the government to shut down and then used his friends in the media to paint a picture that portrayed Republicans as shutting down the government. The president even pushed at the greatest generation by trying to close the World War II Memorial in Washington - consequently, few noticed that the World War I Memorial was not closed, but then again there were no aged veterans going to that memorial. Finally, whenever the president did not get his way, he informed everyone that he has a "pen and a phone" and that he will make the things happen that he wants to happen with or without support from Republicans. The president also spent more time than any of his Democrat predecessors have ever done blaming the previous administration and blaming Republicans - Even Bill Clinton, the golden Democrat "Come Back Kid," only named Republicans in his speeches as "Our opponents," or "They" as he crossed the state of Arkansas hoping his charm and the fact that he stressed, "Vote for the candidate, not against the President" would win voters. It did not.
In World War II as England clung to life with the threat of a German invasion lingering across the water, America was bombed by the Japanese. Americans who had been against the war, American media who had stressed it was not our business, and a President who had wondered how to help our allies without American direct involvement woke up. Both Admiral Yamamoto and Winston Churchill realized that on that day that the sleeping giant, or the American public, had been woke up. Much like that attach that woke American's up for World War II, the president's actions finally woke up the American population on November 4, 2014. Americans rolled out in the early vote and the election day vote in record numbers and in record numbers they voted Republican. States that had not been Republican since Reconstruction once again turned red. Democrat voters themselves were no longer willing to sit by and be sad and blue, they were now red with anger. In overwhelming numbers Obama saw states turn red, he saw the House of Representatives go to a solid majority of Republicans (244 to 179) and he saw the Senate turn Republican (52-43). The message was sent clearly to the doorstep of the White House - Obama's polices, his pen and his phone, would no longer be tolerated by the American people.
Ironically, even as Republicans rejoiced in the opportunity to set the nation on the right path again, Obama's Administration was trying to find a way to put a positive spin on the message sent by Americans. Today's Texarkana Gazette (November 6, 2014) noted that "Obama vows to 'get job done' with GOP," and that it's "time for us to take care of business." The president seems suddenly willing to negotiate, work with Congress, and push toward a positive outcome for the American people. What is truly sad and will linger well into history for this president is the fact that the American people had to wake up and send a clear message to a sitting president who refused to listen to the very people he was elected to serve. Consequently, while there was some hint of defiance in the president's message, but he did not seem too eager to say he had a pen and a phone anymore. Well done America....well done.
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