Introduction

By Ben Ginsberg

“If history was any guide, unless Obama prioritized his goals, the opponents of each of his proposals would band together against all his efforts.”

In November, 2008, Americans chose Democrat, Barack Obama to be their 44th president.  Obama defeated Republican senator, John McCain by a margin of 9 million votes out of some 127 million votes cast.  Little more than a half century after the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act enfranchised millions of black voters, Obama became America's first nonwhite president.

The 2008 campaign was fought against a backdrop of continuing war in the Middle East and a host of domestic problems including a financial crisis and general economic uncertainty.  During the campaign, Obama pledged that he would soon withdraw American forces from Iraq and concentrate, instead, on stabilizing Afghanistan.  He also pledged to improve America's relations with its allies-relations that had been frayed by the unilateralism of the Bush administration. Obama's victory was welcomed in most parts of the world where he was seen as representing America's more cosmopolitan social forces and less bellicose nature than his predecessor who had been widely disliked, even by America's strongest admirers.

On the domestic front, Obama pledged to enhance educational opportunities for America's youth; to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign energy suppliers by expanding the use of alternative fuels; and to develop a health care system that would assure every American of access to high-quality, affordable care.  Obama pledged significant tax reforms that would end the Bush administration's policies favoring wealthier Americans.  Obama also promised regulatory reform, asserting that Republican efforts to deregulate the economy had gone too far and had allowed the reckless practices that paved the way for the nation's 2008 financial crisis.

Asked during the 2008 presidential debates to prioritize his goals, Obama said he saw no reason his goals could not all be pursued simultaneously.  Perhaps the energetic Obama could proceed along several policy tracks at the same time.  It seemed unlikely, however, that the usually sluggish Congress could do the same. The Congress usually has difficulty even accomplishing one thing at a time, never mind five or six or seven.  The framers of the American Constitution did not create a system of government that could easily be made to act quickly.  The framers built in many means of delay and obstruction designed to favor deliberation over decisiveness.  If history was any guide, unless Obama prioritized his goals, the opponents of each of his proposals would band together against all his efforts.

Of course, Americans also elected an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress in 2008.  The Democrats gained 6 seats in the Senate to give them a 57 to 40 majority and 20 seats in the House of Representatives for a 256 to 175 majority.  Such lopsided majorities for the president's party had not been seen since 1993 when President Clinton was able to use his party's overwhelming congressional forces to enact such major pieces of legislation as NAFTA and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (also know as the Biden Crime Law, the largest crime bill in history).  Obama had campaigned on a promise of change and, perhaps, the 2008 election will bring new political directions.  Some elections do bring significant change-1932, 1964, and 1980-come to mind as among the more recent and important examples.

With these thoughts in mind, welcome to our collection of essays on the 2008 election.