Living Up To Impossible Expectations

I think "hope" and "belief" can be pretty powerful thing. There is no harm in this and who knows maybe Obama can really pull it off. He does remind me about Kennedy.

Peter Lee

Barack Obama IS our president. All feelings aside, we need to trust in his decision making and pray he helps this country out of her trenches. All politicians make big promises, sometimes falling short of reality. Let’s hope this time is different.

And to all who dislike Bush, I would like to add that the Dems have been running the senate for 2 years now. Thanks Dems for providing great mortgage opportunities to people who cang afford them. Thanks to Clinton, the housing market is in shambles, thus putting the economy in a tailspin.

Very interesting takes on this topic. I think Obama is in a no-win situation sadly. He walks into the job with a plate full of issues that would take most Presidents two terms to attempt to clear up, and thats hoping that nothing else is added on his plate. I just hope that both Democrats and Republicans work together and remember the people who are truly suffering are counting on them to help this country.

I think Obama will do just fine. He has only been in office a few days and he has already ended torturing and signed a bill to close gitmo within a year,

I think that Obama will justify the hopes of the world!

let’s we see what does obama going to do after the inauguration, all of people in the world put their hope to him,,

You are right, John. It's looking very impossible to turn things around, especially very difficult for just one man - Obama - to do that. But like you also said "America is in debt to the tune of almost $10 trillion. It’s very possible that number will become $14 trillion after Obama’s first term. I find that extremely scary but hey, 80% of Americans believe in this guy and hope goes a long way, even in the face of stalk reality." Hope can move mountains, John... even a mountain as big as America's economic woes :)

I thought the EXACT same thing while watching the ceremonies on Tuesday. He's got a lot of work ahead of him. I'm hoping the momentum will help carry him through and mask some of the mistakes he's guaranteed to make. More than any other president, at least in recent history, he's got huge shoes to fill and expectations to live up to.

Hopefully Obama will be a president of his word.

Only time will tell if Obama can live up to all these expectations. But for now I am really glad he's here and can't wait to see how things are going to (hopefully, rapidly) change.

So yeah, let's "hope" with Obama, but not too blindly.

He gives us HOPE, something that is really needed today. Will he change things in a day, a month, a year, definitely a no. Just knowing that change is coming will keep a lot of people moving forward.

Had a great pleasure to talk to him today. he was my mentor during Harvard days.
We used to hang out a lot at the square.
He told me not to worry too much about the current financial situation, because these days many people are into blogging and making 1000s of $$$ a month if not in a day.

And there are lots of mentors/gurus that can help you achieve that goal.

So there is no need to worry about the economy .

at least Isarelis pulled out of Gaza...

I eagerly await Obama's failure, and I will laugh at all the idiots who think the government can buy them a house and the economy will be saved.

If there ever was any doubt, our election of Obama proves that Americans are among the stupidest people on earth.

It will be a rough road for Obama, as well as the people of this Nation. With no doubt, the promise of Change has given many Americans "Hope" for a better economy and lifestyle. One must remember that the President is not the only voice of this Nation, He and the rest of the governing body must work together, or there will be little change, and the change that does occur will not be swift. The burden placed on Obama is enormous, and hopefully the people are willing to wait for this "Change for the Better" if indeed it does come.

just wait and give time for obama to work hard for better future.........

It's going to hard to do all the things he is promising. However, no one knows what the future holds. Obviously, it's going to take time. The is where real LEADERSHIP is shown when the chips are down. Let's hope we elected the right guy!

No one person can make everyone happy. And Obama has a lot of undoing to do. However I believe he will do more for the US then possibly any past president ever has. It should not be thought that he didn't do a certain thing but look at the whole picture of everything he will do.

The question is, "who else can do better than Obama"?

McCain and Palin?

Come on, Palin spends 150K on her clothing, politics isn't really priority for her.

Look at the amount of support that Obama gets, THAT's what's important, that people are following the leader.

When you have that much support, you can do anything.

Just tell me the last time Washington D.C was filled with tons of people on every street, every roof, etc...etc...

This guy's got the support, something no other Presidents ever had, maybe not even Lincoln.

Hey John...you're right the country is in a tons of debt and on the verge of bankruptcy.

If the USA was a company, I would never invest in it or buy it's stock.

Unfortunately, both parties seem to be favoring more government spending, borrowing, etc which is exactly what got us into this mess.

Not sure if you are familiar with Ron Paul but he seems to be one of the few in Washington with some wisdom on this subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvFZH_adksc

Nobody that matters anymore really cares that he is "Black", that train of though is not a part of "our"(internet/YouTube/Blog/etc.) generation, that is mainly BS media garbage so they can have something to talk about, If color really mattered he wouldn't be our president-elect.

If this was 1960 or something then sure, but its damn near 2010 skin color/nationality means nothing, he can screw up just as bad as any other guy.

That said I hope he does well us "black folk" are counting on him.... :P

big burden........need working veru hard and..........be optimism

No need to be jealous john chow, just admit that Obama made more money than you, online.

Granted it's a tall order to fill, but I think he very much helped set the expectations.

I think that goes a long way. Drive or be driven.

all talk, and all bull, he has no experience what so ever and all he is doing is trying to hype everything up, he had a free win election

Obama must be having great people around him to help him overcome this great deficits. I hope he can do t hat in another 4 years time.

today, i hope i can met obama

I don't know why people call Obama the first black president. He's not black. He's half-black, half-white. He's the first mulatto president.

Whatever the future period will be one might believe and hope that will be the best times.To be optimistic is good for health.Some time will pass and everyone will forget about the crises.

I hope Obama will inspire people to stop worrying about paying the mortgage and start blogging so they can start paying the mortgage worry-free.

All this agents of disbelief. You guys are the people that make america's economy bad. If people are scared, then blogs and newspapers are saying the economy is bad, that will make people to be more scared.

This mess is so entrenched into our country and the rest of the world for that matter, no one really knows what will happen or how fast. Far too many people look for the quick fix, the fast solution to their problems, instead of taking responsibility for their own actions.

The President is just a scapegoat for all of our issues. Until we can all realize how we contribute to gross negligence and ignore the things that don't involve us personally, we're doomed.

And don't think I'm being pessimistic, just honest :)

I am afraid when he will not be as per the expectation. Encouraging speech on election rally to build the confidence is different things and to perform practically is different issue.

I do want to see a one night magic ... I just want to see changes it can be slow or may be very slow but it should be at there ... so that people wont loose the hope.

Call me crazy, but this looks like another un-labeled guest post.

It just doesn't sound the way John normally writes.

As an Australian I've been watching the US elections with great interest. It was time for a change and Obama seemed to be the best option.

He's got four years to bring change, and it's highly likely the economic situation will be much improved by the end of the four years. Rightly or wrongly, he'll receive much of the credit for the improvement (or blame for any downturn).

What he does seem to bring to the US is a feeling of optimism - you can feel it in the interviews with people. There seems to be a feeling that things are going to get better - confidence in his abilities.

He'll be judged by history like everyone else. Hopefully he's judged favourably.

let’s we see what does obama going to do after the inauguration, all of people in the world put their hope to him,

US economy is far too bad for him to fix in just one term. But I believe he can really be 'the change' that everyone has been waiting for.

The economy is going to bounce back as it always does and unfortunately Obama is going to get credit for it because he is the one in office.

However I suspect it will take longer than it should due to all the socialist policies that are planned and inevitably will be put into place in the name of "fixing" the economy. Much the same way FDR prolonged the the depression with his socialist policies.

Buckle up folks it's going to be a bumpy ride.

I hope he does a good job...just as I do any President...

But you are right...one man cannot live up to the expectations that he set for himself in his campaign. Even in his acceptance speech, he started backing out of many of his comments during the campaign stating that this won't get fixed right away and it would probably take more than one term.

I do hope Obama does not try to stick it to big business and increase their taxes. As any economist knows...that increased cost just gets passed down to the consumers. We need to create jobs by lower taxes on companies that create jobs...not tax them and cripple their cash flow.

Oh well...how are you going to spend your $500? That worked so well last time...

I agree with this post. But then again you never know. I too have hopes that he can really deliver what he has promised.

We have to remember that Obama isn't the Wizard of Oz. He has many people to go through before any of his initiatives take root. He's not a "one man band" and he can't make our problems all go away.

We can't pin our hopes on him; that would be foolish. We can, however, rally behind the man and support him.

I hope he does a good job. I believe he's up for the challenge. He's academic enough to help our financial crisis. Overseas....well, I guess only time will tell.