Ryan's Journal

Since he announced his candidacy, I've been hoping to say with the assurance of the electorate: President Obama. Now I hope something different is coming to American politics, and not just in the anything-other-than-Bush bare minimum sense. Real dialogue on policy issues, the lessening influence of autopilot extremism, less invective, more nuance, more hope for a better future. No one person in any single office can accomplish such a widespread shift in behavior, but this election is symbolic of change and hope over fear. Having the symbol is the first step of many in walking a better road.

I hope the Republican party takes this defeat as a means to contemplate its rhetoric and in the process give the rest of us something to think and talk about. This is a potentially destructive moment; I can see a scenario in which those factions that pander to a base in love with Sarah Palin fracture the party by discarding long-term substance, and that doesn't sound like a good thing for anybody to me. As unlikely as it is, I hope for their own good and mine that we don't have to hear anything again about a demagogue whose ambition over matched her capacity.

Now that you have it, President Obama, do well with it.

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