For most of the year I have refrained from watching CNN, but make an exception when Roland Martin or Fareed Zakaria are on. Last night, on AC360 there was a very sobering discussion of the challenges awaiting the next POTUS.
Just looking at the sheer number of complex, dangerous items that will face the next POTUS on day one, was chilling:
Iraq policy
Afghanistan destabilization
Iran policy
Middle east peace process
Oil prices/energy crisis
The economy in recession
Health care crisis
David Gergen and Fareed Zakaria said this will be the "most challenging Presidency sinc FDR". Can anyone in their right mind imagine McCain having the intellectual or physical ability to deal with all of these issues simultaneously?
Th other interesting point that both Gergen and Zakaia made was that all most all of these issues require a "global thinking" approach. They went on to describe th characteristics of what kind of President it would take to successfully deal with these issues. The President they described sounded very much like a President Obama.
The thing that kept coming up in terms of successfully meeting these challenges, was the need for "political capital" by the new President. What I concluded from that is the absolute necessity for all of us to remain engaged after January 20th. Just as Barack can't win without our support, more importantly, he can not successfully govern without our active, ongoing support and involvement.