I'm an optimist about America and Americans. I always have been and always will be. This is the land of opportunity and individual freedom. We also help each other and defend our country and way of life when necessary. America is an idea and a nation based on shared values.
So let's address briefly four things: (1) this week's election results; (2) the impending fiscal cliff; (3) leadership; and (4) Americans. We'll take them in order.
THE ELECTION
Those who seek to lead must first convince those they wish to lead that they care about them and their well being. Mitt Romney was unable to convince the average American that he cared about him and his well being.
He simply 'didn't connect' with all those Americans feeling vulnerable in this time of uncertainty. Accordingly, they never listened to what he had to say. He wasn't trusted, to put it bluntly, to look out for and fight for the average American. Fair or not, that was the perception, and perception is reality.
The lesson is simple. Successful business leaders should stay out of politics.
On the other hand, Barack Obama did connect and comes across as somebody who understands what the average American is going through and will fight for him to the end. Fair or not, that's the perception, and perception is reality.
{NOTE on leadership: Finding a parade and getting out in front is a sign of leadership. It involves doing and it involves helping people to get where they want to go anyway. Leadership requires action and risk taking. We'll get an early indication of the President's leadership ability with the fiscal cliff approaching.}
THE FISCAL CLIFF
The fiscal cliff is a political concoction resulting from our political 'leadership's' inability to come to grips with the nation's debt problems in 2011. Accordingly, the cliff was constructed by our politicians of both parties in a kick the can down the road until after the 2012 election exercise. Well, the election is over and the year end is approaching. My, how time flies!
It's time for leadership. It's time to demonstrate to the American people that our politicians, including our President, care about working together to help fix our country's financial problems. And the problems are severe. They don't have to fix them, and by themselves they can't fix them. And while our debt and deficit issues won't be repaired anytime soon, we at least have to agree to begin to fix them.
So it's an opportunity for the President and Congress to show some leadership. Our country needs that and the American people will feel much better about our future when the cliff is avoided. The sooner the better, of course.
My bet is that leadership of a bipartisan nature is possible in Washington and that we'll see it now as the fiscal cliff is avoided. Stay tuned for the 'surprise' confidence booster and evidence of leadership from our President. Let's hope I'm right about that.
LEADERSHIP
Now comes the hard part. Now that we're listening, what will President Obama do? Even though he's been in office four years now, we're still waiting to see him lead. Can he lead? Will he lead? And when he does try to lead, will we follow? Will he try to take us where we want to go?
Leadership requires action. It involves trust and willingness by those being led to believe that the leader is acting in the best interests of the people. That means people won't follow a leader who wants to take them down a road they choose not to travel. And that brings us to why I'm an optimistic American these days.
AMERICANS
America is a center-right country. We're not a socialistic society. We're not Europe, Russia, China or Japan. Nor the U.K either.
We're people who believe in the ordinary person being capable of doing extraordinary things. That we're all 'entitled' to an equal opportunity and that we're all willing to come to the aid of those in need. But we're individuals who cherish our personal freedoms and the ability to do what we choose to do and work as hard as we choose to get to where we want to go or be what we want to be. Self reliance is the very essence of being an American. It's what makes American exceptionalism an enduring reality.
In the presidential election, Mitt Romney didn't convince the average American that he understood and stood with him. He didn't make the sale. He never got past the issue of trust.
The typical American feels vulnerable today in lots of ways. The young, the Hispanics, the old, the unemployed, the underemployed, the public sector worker, the private sector worker, women, gays, Asian-Americans and African-Americans alike. Old white guys, too.
All that said, this is still America, and Americans know that. Just give us an equal chance, we say, and we'll make it on our own. And if for some reason we can't make it on our own, our friends and neighbors will be there to help us out.
But first, we have to know that those who seek to lead care about us and are willing to lend a helping hand when necessary. And only then will we listen to our would-be leaders about how they intend to help us get to where we want to go --- and arrive there together as a nation of equals.
The time for our political leadership to listen and lead We the People in a center-right direction is upon us now.
My bet is that President Obama knows we're a center-right nation of individuals and that he's smart enough to get in front of the parade. Especially now that he's no longer running for election. Politics sucks.
SUMMING UP
Finally, consider this comparative example.
President Nixon was a conservative Republican who went to China and established diplomatic relations in 1972 during the Cold War. A liberal Democratic president wouldn't have been able to do that. We the People would have thought him too soft and not acting in our best interests. But Nixon was able to do it. He had the trust of the average American that he wasn't soft and that he would be acting in the best interests of the average American.
Similarly, and unlike what would have been the case had Mitt Romney been elected, today President Obama will be able to reform entitlements, the tax code, drill for energy and other necessary but heretofore "Republican" issues.
He has the trust of the average vulnerable American that he won't sell out to the fat cats and and the Wall Street guys.
So if he's smart, he'll do what Nixon did with China. My bet is that he's smart.
And that's why I'm an optimist, my fellow Americans.
Thanks. Bob.
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