When the disaster of the current Bush administration started, there was immediate talk of restoring integrity to the White House. And while that was a farce that was discredited based on the caustic mix of arrogance, disinterest and utter incompetence – we have a great opportunity to set a new narrative that is not only accurate but devastating to the republican party over the long term.
As we know, this election was a complete rejection of the conservative agenda and the failed republican party policies. And it isn’t too much of a stretch to say that the republican party brand is shot to pieces, the party is in disarray and the most likely names for "carrying the mantle for the future republican party" include someone who many people think is a religious extremist who is stupid and arrogant (Palin), a corporatist who is aligned with a movement that has overstepped on a social issue that pisses off a lot of people (Romney and the Mormons), not to mention not being trusted by many republicans during the primary season and an individual who is a religious extremist that practiced exorcisms (Jindal). Sure, Huckabee has appeal but there are also many republicans outside of the religious right that can’t stand his policies.
While this is all predicated on the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress not falling on their faces and actually doing what the American people overwhelmingly want (within the constraints left behind by the Bush administration), there is one theme that should be hammered home over and over:
The adults are back in charge.
Of course, this starts at the top with Obama and Biden as opposed to Bush and Cheney. Say what the republicans did about Obama during the primaries, there was never any doubt about his deliberative thought process, his intellectual curiosity, calm demeanor and open mind towards solutions. Additionally, anyone that knew a history of Cheney and Rumsfeld would have known their aggressive stances on foreign policy and extreme views on the Executive Branch and secrecy. With Biden, the worst that people can say is "bankruptcy bill" (if you are a progressive) or that he sticks his foot in his mouth. But his credentials and reputation is as good as we have seen in a long time.
But it doesn’t stop there – not by a longshot. Take, for example, Rahm Emanuel vs. Andrew Card (or even Karl Rove as Deputy Chief of Staff). For whatever we feel about Rahm, I am fully confident that he won’t try and lie the country into war like Card did or leak national security secrets and ignore subpoenas (let alone be subpoenaed) like Rove did.
And look at the potential candidates for other Cabinet positions (contrasted with an Attorney General that was coming off a Senate race loss to a dead person, for example) in addition to the numerous "Brownie’s" and similar willfully disastrous choices for top posts.
John Kerry as potential Secretary of State. We know that he won’t ignore calls for diplomacy like Rice did, won’t present false evidence about other countries’ nonexistent weapons programs, ruining his credibility along with the United States’ credibility. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as potential for heading the EPA - while this may be a bit controversial, he wouldn’t tell tens of thousands of workers and even more residents that toxic air full of debris and burning plastic, not to mention dozens of other carcinogens is safe to breathe (and ultimately resulting in many deaths and incidents of cancer). And other names for potential positions include former Fed. Chief Paul Volcker, Chuck Hagel, Tom Vilsack (for Secretary of Agriculture), and there are many others.
Of course, there are potential issues with some of these candidates, but the overall theme is the same. The time of incompetent cronies in plumb positions is coming to an end. There is a lot of dead wood and rot to get rid of that has already permeated many levels of government – most notably the Justice Department. But in terms of "hitting the reset button" and giving this country a second chance to really forge a new direction and act like adults when it comes to navigating the major problems that our country faces here at home as well as around the world, we have done just that.
There still needs to be action to back up this potential, and there will undoubtedly be much resistance. But Obama has overcome a great deal of that to win this election very handily. But at least at this point, regardless of whether the decisions will work out or whether there will be more putting out of fires initially than moving forward, responsible people are now in charge again.
And that alone is a message that we should make certain to get out there and repeat as much as possible. Any success will only reinforce the message, and any setbacks due to the past eight years can be framed as the adults fixing the mess that the children made.