We live in such a cynical society and journalism in particular can be such a cynical profession that I feel obligated to summarize my reasons for being optimistic about the president-elect. Much of this has to do with my belief that Obama is a pragmatist more than an idealist.
Firstly and with history as my guide, I believe that the way that a president runs his election campaign is indicative of how he would run his administration. Obama ran a tight enough ship to defeat the Clinton political machine and to go on to make history as America's first (really) black president.
Obama showed himself to be a cool, rational leader who, while not afraid to throw a punch, avoided much of the mud-slinging that surrounds a political campaign. Obama did not touch the Clinton sniper-fire story, and was remarkably gentle with McCain's borderline-insane pick of a running mate.
Which brings me to the aspect of the campaign that had the most direct bearing on the candidates' decision making ability. Obama chose a respected former chairman of the senate judiciary committee and foreign affairs expert who is not afraid to speak his mind.
McCain chose a rookie governor with an embarrassing lack of basic knowledge in economics and foreign affairs. Who made the more pragmatic, more "conservative" choice? Who chose a running mate who would help them govern rather than help them win the election?
Secondly, I don't believe that Obama is out to transform the United States into Sweden. Obama is strongly supportive of the death penalty and is opposed to gay marriage. Progressive taxation, that issue he was hammered as a socialist on, was practiced by Republican hero Teddy Roosevelt.
One of my favourite parts of Obama's victory speech was when he admiringly quoted fellow Illinoian Abraham Lincoln as he reached out to the 47% of Americans who did not vote for him.
I believe that much like Lincoln, Obama will make his cabinet picks based on ability rather than ideology. When he was the president of the Harvard Law Review, the orthodox liberal Obama went out of his way to include more conservative law students, much to the chagrin of his ideological peers. Don't be surprised to see a Dick Lugar, or a Chuck Hagel, or even temporarily a Bob Gates in Obama's cabinet.
Thirdly, Obama is not one that will capitulate to terrorists. He has long said that he would not hesitate to use force were it necessary, and indeed, he's out-hawked John McCain on the question of cross-border strikes between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Clandestine attacks of this kind were taking place even as McCain condemned Obama's comments. I wonder to what degree the moveon.org, Michael Moore types are aware of this.
Finally and on a personal level I am absolutely tickled to have a president who is a friend of science. Obama is a rationalist first and a Christian second. Obama knows that taking something on faith alone is just not good enough when determining law and policy in a secular society.
The contrast with his opponents is particularly striking. These are people who decried research on bear DNA that could help prevent extinction, called a planetarium projector an "overhead projector" and even went so far as to question fruit fly research in the same breath that they called for research to help fight autism.
The degree to which the Obama administration will be effective in fighting radical Islamism, repairing the markets, dealing with the energy crisis, climate change and other issues we don't even know about remains to be seen. People were pretty psyched about Carter after all.
Still, I believe that Obama has the ability to be the president who defines the early part of a 21st century that has potential beyond our wildest dreams.
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