Righteous Politicians

I'm already tired of the righteousness I'm perceiving from the Democrats in Congress. I'd like to remind them that they rode into office on the coattails of a man for whom people voted for not primarily for his policies. The reasons I believe many people voted for Barack Obama are, in order:

1. He's not George W. Bush.
2. Sarah Palin was perceived to not be qualified for a job she was not even running for. I'm still scratching my head over this one.
3. His race. I'm sorry to say this, but I really do think that for some voters at least, the color of his skin was more important than the content of his character. Hopefully someday Dr. King's dream will be achieved, but I don't believe it was this time.
4. His policies.

With Democratic policies in fourth place for a lot of people, I feel like the Democrats should be very careful. They need to stick to their bipartisan¹ promises. They need to do what is right for the country, not what rewards their pet issues.

I am still hopeful that Mr. Obama can guide his party to a higher standard, but I have my doubts, considering what he has to work with. Despite all of the Democratic complaints during the past eight years of the Bush administration, they seem to be willing to act in the same ways they complained about now that they are in power. I'm hoping for better, but not expecting it.

1) I hate the word bipartisan as it implies their is something inherently "right" about a bipolar system. I believe that our cyclical tit-for-tat approach to politics does far more harm than good.