I talk to Ryan, an old friend of mine from back home in rural Pennsylvania. He saw a comment I made on Facebook, something about President Obama. Said he was getting ready to watch the news conference tonight. Things are bad. Times are tough. Folks are hurting. And he wanted to know what Obama was going to do about it.
Ryan's whole family lives in small town Pennsylvania, going back for generations. They're all Republicans. He says he thought about voting for Obama, but in the end, just went with McCain. The guy was a war hero, he says.
Well, the news conference just ended. So I ask Ryan what he thought.
I ask him if he thought President Obama was trying to do too much, too quickly. I ask him what he thinks about President Obama trying to fix health care, and energy, and education all in one big push.
The guy says, "Hey, I didn't vote for him. But he's right. You can't put out a forest fire with a bucket."
I agree. We've got big problems, we need big solutions, and we need them right now.
In spite of his Republican leanings, Ryan can't resist. He says, "Damn right. Go big or go home. That's what he's there for."
So the pundits and the right-wing politicos might tell you that you should worry about Obama trying to do tpo many things at one time. Hell, they'll even show up on Lou Dobbs yapping about how Obama shouldn't be making time to see his own daughters when they come home from school in the afternoon---he should spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week just trying to figure out how to punish AIG.
Fox News and co ask if it's wise, at a time like this, for Obama to put forward such sweeping changes. You're damn right it is.
The truth is, people out there in America understand that we, as a nation, face incredible challenges on all fronts. That's why we've elected a guy who is almost universally regarded as intelligent, thoughtful, and calm under pressure. We didn't elect somebody to slowly address one problem at a time, put forth tepid and ineffective solutions that won't really solve anything, and defer the tough questions for months or years.
We elected Barack Obama to solve some serious problems and make some sweeping changes. So don't believe this trash about doing too much too quickly. In the words of my buddy Ryan, Obama is damn right. Go big or go home.