The election is over here in the U.S., and Barack Obama has been reelected President of the U.S.
This is a good thing. I truly believe he is a once in a generation, transformational politician/leader.
Even in his victory speech, which you can watch above, his words appeal to the better angels of our nature.
Yet there is so much to do to have true change – change we can believe in, which was the Obama campaign slogan in 2008 – take shape. We can not expect one person to be the impetus towards change. It is up to all of us. We are all leaders, and all it takes is to stand firm, yet flexible, in your beliefs and principles.
To affect a true change, a Quantum Revolution, which is a change towards a more enlightened, holistic, and sustainable society and world, it will take evolved thinking from many people.
So as Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
The world is evolving, in many positive ways. There is still a lot of negative going on. But we can all focus on and push the positive. Just to have a man like Barack Obama be elected, and reelected, is an incredible achievement and a sign that we are becoming a more enlightened society.
Let’s keep moving forward in that direction. Be passionate, be loving, be strong, be authentic, and lead from wisdom.
With that being said, below are 10 reasons why Barack Obama won reelection:
1. America is on a trajectory, through the decades, a seed planted by our Founders, toward tolerance and compassion—toward Equal Rights for All.
2. Women are 54% of the electorate.
3. Romney “won among those who oppose gay marriage, want to outlaw abortion, or favor mass deportation of illegal immigrants. None of those are majority positions in this country anymore.”
4. Lack of transparency on the part of Gov. Romney: Romney, unlike his own father when he ran for president some decades ago, refused to disclose his own taxes. His finances, already in question due to offshore accounts, another sorry first, and Bain Capital, a brilliant successful and viciously ruthless business, begged transparency.
5. Romney’s strident and intolerant attitude towards immigration was rejected by Latino voters.
6. Obama is likeable, and polls bore this out. He’s sincere. More than Clinton, in my memory, or Hillary. More than Kerry. He’s a sincere, authentic, unselfconscious, relaxed, steady, likeable human being, as is Michelle.
7. Obama’s ground game, once again—volunteers, voter turnout, millions of dollars from donors instead of a few rich old men—and his aggressive set-the-stage early strategy.
8. Sandy allowed Obama to serve us as President, not merely a man campaigning for politics. It allowed him to do what he does best, and has done again and again: deal with crisis, reassure the American people despite overwhelming challenge, and to work in a bipartisan, post-partisan manner with those on the other side of the aisle who were, in turn, willing to cooperate toward a greater good.
9. Fiscal Liberalism. As in 2008, a fiscal liberal was once again trusted to right our ship. Polls again favored Obama to take care of the economy—a strength that Republicans are used to exercising, but didn’t find in the polls. His economic policies that stress job growth, health care reform, tax increases and balanced deficit reduction were, as he said many times, the right way to go both ethically and practically. We’ve tried their way, and it led to a Clinton-created surplus turning into a Bush deficit, etc etc.
10. He’s a once in a generation transformational politician/leader.