Democrats ride Obama's coattails to election

President-elect Barack Obama (D-Ill) catapulted himself to the White House with the support of a strong, well-organized ground campaign and a solid, well-versed political platform. Obama was also the beneficiary of several external factors such as a deteriorating economy and an unpopular President who continues to support an unpopular war. The American people had more confidence in Obama to fix the economy, settle the war, and bring overall unity to the country as a whole. America right now feels that the Republicans are not as committed to these objectives.

Now, as far as the rest of the Democrats elected, I believe Mr. Joe Mavretic (former NC House Speaker) summed it up best when he said, “The Democrats will ride Obama’s coattails into office.” Reason: after selecting the President, it appears many voters just voted a straight party ticket instead of taking the time to vote for each office individually. I believe this hurt some more qualified candidates like Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory who seemed better versed on the issues and ran a much better campaign than Lt. Gov. (now Governor-elect) Bev Purdue. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) had her race won and then just killed herself with that controversial “Godless Americans” ad campaign and ended up losing to now Senator-elect Kay Hagan.


Elections are very crucial to the futures of our cities, states, the country and most importantly our children. We should invest some time in researching all candidates running for public office and not just rely on what we see on the nightly news. Remember, the TV news is only going to focus on what they feel will get ratings - they will not cover everything. We need to do our homework to make sure we are putting the right individuals in office that will best address the issues of concerned citizens and will do so in a fiscally responsible manner. Merely showing party loyalty does not ensure this. One thing is certain: North Carolina and the nation will be under new management in 2009 and let’s see if we will be better off in 4 years than we are now.