President-elect Barack Obama Asks Americans For Patience

During his presidential campaign Barack Obama made many promises to the American people, and there will be a lot of pressure to deliver when he takes office. Americans are losing their jobs, and to say that the economy is struggling is an understatement. The voters who showed up in record numbers to select Obama as our next president expect results, and fast. Knowing that he is going to be on the hot seat, Obama has done the smart thing by reminding people that fixing these problems isn’t going to happen overnight. "The economy's likely to get worse before it gets better. Full recovery will not happen immediately," Obama said Monday, according to CNN.

In a society that wants and demands immediate results, this is a hard pill to swallow, but Obama is right. If we want to fix the economy—and by fix I don’t mean slap a band aid on—it is going to take time and things will get worse before they get better. Americans need to understand this and give Obama a little slack. We need to look at the big picture, not at what will just get us through the next year.

However, though Obama is saying the right things right now, whether he will actually do the right things is an entirely different matter. I don’t agree with many of Obama’s plans to correct the financial crisis, but no one on this planet knows for certain how to fix this thing. There are various and potentially valid opinions on the best course of action, and I don’t intend to sit here and say that I have the perfect plan. I also don’t envy the position Obama is in. He will listen to plan after plan from top economic experts, and then choose the one that will either save us or sink us, and forever bear the weight of that decision on his legacy. Not a pleasant task. I think Obama is a very smart man, and I think that it is important that we give him a chance. This is the man that America selected to get us out of the current crisis and we need to accept that. It is scary to think that one man will have such a huge role in deciding our future, but Obama is the man chosen for the job.

So, President-elect Obama: Even though I might not agree with all of your decisions, this blogger promises to give you the time that you’ve requested. Just do your best to make the right decisions, because my daughter’s future is in your hands.