Barack the Builder?

On Tuesday night in Barack Obama's acceptance speech after John McCain had conceded the presidential election, he repeatedly would cite something that he hoped to accomplish as president and would say 'yes we can'. The crowd would then repeat the words 'yes we can'.

I started to laugh because it reminded me of the animated television show that my younger boys used to watch, Bob the Builder. Bob would ask his crew, 'can we do it', and all of his tools would reply 'yes we can'. If President-elect Obama will ever be more than an animated version of a president of the United States, then he must do more than repeat trite, catchy phrases.

The television pundits repeatedly said that it was an historic night. I agree with them. I wish that I could have found reason to celebrate that historic night. There may have been one, but electing a president with the policies that President-elect Obama campaigned on is decidedly not a reason for me to have been excited about the historic night.

Mr. Obama, you said you understood that people like me did not agree with his views and policies, but that you would work hard to be my president as well. I am assuming that you are a man of your word, so I would like to offer some advice on how to gain my support as the president.

First, the economy doesn't grow without population growth. Jobs aren't created without a demand for goods and services. Demand is created by people and businesses. Governments can't do that over an extended period of time. They never have. They never will. You need to adopt policies that encourage the development and support of families - the traditional marriage families that you claim to believe in. They are the only people that can create consumers for the goods and services that will create jobs. It won't happen overnight, but you can be the president that put policies into place for the long term.

Second, don't appoint judges to enact policies that you know won't pass muster with the people. Appoint judges that will exercise restraint and not legislate from the bench. Many political analysts speak of a 'litmus test' for the judiciary. A judge not prone to judicial activism should be your only 'litmus test'.

Finally, your record in the Senate was the most partisan and liberal leaning of any candidate that has run for president in history. You must move beyond rhetoric and catch phrases to govern effectively. Please don't repeat the errors of the past Democratic president and govern based on public opinion polls. It is important that you govern based on principle, not public opinion. Remember the words of Winston Churchill -- "There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion."

I am hopeful that you can be my president as well. You will have to work at it, however. I haven't seen anything in your campaign or public record that leads me to believe that this will be possible.