From the losing side of the blogosphere. Ross:
I was disappointed in Barack Obama, but I also realize that his campaign wasn’t addressed to me: It was addressed to the constituents of a potential center-left majority, and that’s the majority he won tonight. Whether this majority holds together will depend on how he governs, but for the moment he has achieved something that no Democratic politician has achieved in a generation: He’s carved out a mandate to take America at least some distance in a leftward direction, and he has left the conservative opposition demoralized, disorganized, and arguably self-destructing.
The Democrats will be solidly in control in Washington. The silver lining is that for the first time in quite a few years, they will not be able to duck responsibility. As soon as they actually begin governing in January, they will, inevitably, begin to alienate voters. Obama in particular will not remain a tabula rasa, all things to all people, much longer. Whether he turns out to be the hard leftist of his legislative years or the borderline Republican that he sometimes seemed on the campaign trail, he will disappoint some of his followers. And the next time a hurricane strikes, it will be the Democrats’ fault.
My Culture11 article on what we can expect from the future President makes an argument that will be familiar to many regular readers of Eunomia, stressing as it does Obama’s aversion to political risk, his careful, deliberative approach and his preference for consensus and accommodation. This is my concession to Obama supporters’ emphasis on the man’s temperament, which I think the article explains fairly well, albeit not necessarily in the most flattering way. I set this view of Obama against the interpretations of those inclined to hope for or fear significant policy shifts in the years to come. One point that I want to emphasize is this:
There is an assumption shared by most Obama backers that he will prove to be, in Colin Powell’s formulation, a “transformational” President, particularly with respect to foreign affairs and America’s reputation abroad. But the expected transformation in foreign attitudes seems based largely on temporary foreign enthusiasm for Obama’s candidacy that is itself a product of the misconception that Obama’s election will mark some significant or meaningful change in U.S. foreign policy
Conservatives should welcome tomorrow. President Obama and the overwhelmingly Democratic Congress will give Republicans and conservatives a choice: reform, or be scattered to the winds. Our next president will have overwhelming power, but it will be handed to him in incredibly unfavorable circumstances. Two wars, a terrible international reputation, potential economic contraction, a lawless border. Events will force him to be disciplined, or he will quickly lose his working majority in Congress.
With this election, conservatives are finally going to begin having the arguments they haven’t been allowed to have in public. They’re going to begin talking seriously about the direction of the country, figuring out where they went wrong, and planning how to get back into the majority. That’ll make them stronger, and it’ll make the country stronger, too.
The Dish 