You Can Call Him Mr. President!

On November 4, 2008 the world watched in suspense as votes across the country were tallied leading to Barack Obama’s historic win. The Senator from Illinois, was elected the nations first black President. Now more than a week later, reality has set in for most people and it’s not the total calamity that many of President-elect Obama’s opponents thought it would be.

President-Elect Obama seems to moving in a very rapid and smart manner. He has made the financial crisis a top priority. He has his transition team in place before the election to make sure they “hit the ground running”. He has been having regular meetings with his economic advisory board made up of people he trusts.

This new president has many challenges starting out, the financial crisis being at the top, also, a high unemployment rate, a $10 billion a month war and a country divided by a long and brutal election cycle. The best thing Barrack Obama can do, is make sure he retain the help of the very best when it comes to the economy, foreign policy and the war in Iraq.

The transition of power looks like it may be a smooth one. This week President and Mrs. Bush met with the Obama’s at the White House. President Bush has vowed to make the transition as easy as possible. I believe that he will work hard to make sure that the transition is seamless.

Now is the time for all Americans to unite and work together to get this country back on track. The election is over. The winners have been very sensitive and not gloating at their victory. They are reaching out to the opposition to help solve the nation’s big issues. To me, that what a President does, lead the entire nation and not just the party they belong to.

The Comedy Of Politics

Everyone loves a good joke, especially if it’s at the expense of an elected official. For years politicians have been the source of material for the late night shows. Shows like “The Tonight Show”, “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “Saturday Night Live” are notorious for their political satire. It’s always a treat when the politician being poked fun at makes an appearance and can laugh at themselves. On Saturday night, Governor Sarah Palin did just that. Sarah Palin stopped by the “SNL” studios and made an appearance in a couple of sketches. Although she didn’t say very much, it was obvious she was having fun with it.



Over the years we’ve seen politicians that are often the bud of jokes on late night television make appearances. I remember President Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on “The Arsenio Hall Show”. Janet Reno made an appearance on “SNL” in 2001 and in 2002 Al Gore hosted the show. So why would politicians appear on shows that make fun of them? Well the answer has more to do with who’s watching those shows. Today, younger adults are getting their information from shows like “The Daily Show” or “The Colbert Report”. “Saturday Night Live’s” Weekend Update is so popular that they have a special Weekend Update on Thursdays. The candidates are always campaigning for votes; they want to win people over. So they go on these shows to look more human. People can watch and see that they are people too, and they can laugh at themselves. These shows have a huge followings. Sarah Palin’s appearance on “SNL” was the show’s highest rated episode in 14 years.

With less than 2 weeks until Election Day, we can expect the candidates to step up the campaigning until election night. So I’ll expect the jokes and the sketches to get even funnier as “E-Day” approaches. Although I love the sketches and jokes, my favorite form of political satire comes from Mike Luckovich, a national syndicated political cartoonist. I think his drawings are pretty right on!