Four days after Obama won the Presidency, the celebration is still going. Dems are delirious! Every day there has been a shiny new blue state, district or governorship to wonder over. It's Christmas and Hanuka come early. But I think that with all of the hoopla, our elected Democrats have forgotten something ...change is on the way.
The selection of Rahm Emanuel is a big signal, I think. This is a guy that gets it done. He doesn't mess around, he's not afraid to get a bit nasty, he is Chicago politics embodied. His ship is tightly ran, and the only drama is his...for effect. Now, I know some of you have been hand wringing about his selection, I did too. But then I remembered ....change is on the way.
Consider what you've learned about Obama since you first read about him. I thought he was a softy; all "I'm ok, you're ok" mush. But then I learned that Chicago doesn't breed marshmallow politicians. He battled Hillary everyday in a throat-shredding fight that he won, and won with his principles still intact. McCain gave him some trouble, but not on the scale of the fight for the Democratic nomination. Obama got through this campaign owing almost nothing to no-one, which is unheard of! His confidence eventually convinced enough wailing, nervous-Nellie supporters to back off and let him do it his way. He's unorthodox! He's his own man! A new animal in politics, perhaps.
Now, change is finally on the way. But what does that mean? How many times have we heard that the old way of doing business has to change, how many times has the man who is now President-elect said that? Many, many, many times. And I think he really means it. So that means that the change will principally affect the party in the majority, the Dems. The poor, deluded Dems, who are counting their chickens as we speak. (The Republicans will be outraged, no matter what happens, of course.)
How easy is change? I mean real change. Something that has been gotten used to, the rhythms and the ins and outs are known, and suddenly ...it's different. Has that happened to you? Was it hard? Did you resist it? How long did it take before the 'new' became 'the way things are done'? Now think about a guy like Harry Reid, whose been around for a long, long time. He's got seniority, he's powerful, he's seen Presidents come and go. How receptive is he going to be to some johnny-come-lately who thinks the way Reid has been doing things needs an adjustment? "Get off my lawn!" It could be just like that.
I think the Senate and Congress are in for some discomfort, because real change does that to people. That's why I believe Rahm Emanuel is on board, to crack heads together until the change sticks. You can't 'pretty-please' these powerful people, and we've seen the results of the 'my-way-or-the-highway' approach. (We got nothing.) So what will we see? How about a receptiveness to ideas coupled with a determined whip to move everyone in a new direction?
What do I really think? We don't yet know the full aspect of an Obama Administration and all of it's facets. But I really do think that a different politics is on the horizon, and it should start early to prevent resistance to it. I think that we will hear more second-guessing and see heads scratched in befuddlement. We will hear moans of disappointment from the Democrats, because their President isn't beholden to them. We shall see. One thing I do know is that Obama seems to have a canny insight into the way people think, feel and react, ...and knows how to handle and persuade them. His instincts have been true, and proven correct.
I don't think we need to fear. Go ahead Dems, count those chickens. But we do need to prepare for the discomfort... of change. It's starting.