Barack Obama was elected to be president yesterday. I learned the results before Hayden and I fell asleep last night.

In other news, 55 Million US voters voted against him; that’s 46% of those voting. I just wish we had a chance to vote for somebody that we could actually support, instead of just going to vote against Obama. McCain pushed me out of the “straight-talk express” back in 2000:

Austin American-Stateman, January 9, 2000: “By most accounts, McCain has worked hard to wrest control of the party away from social-issues conservatives while seeking to increase his own power.”

Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 5, 2000: Rod Grams, who also enjoys the support of Christian conservatives, said McCain made a mistake alienating a core GOP constituency. “There was no need for this. It’s going to be hard to heal some of these wounds … You can’t win a Republican nomination without Republicans.”

Philadelphia Daily News, January 3, 2001: John McCain, who criss-crossed New Hampshire during the GOP presidential primaries in his “Straight Talk Express” bus and won the heart of reporters, … sounding dangerously pro-abortion to social conservatives – who promptly helped to hand George Bush the GOP nomination. …

Campaigning for the Executive as a Legislator

Both Barack Obama and John McCain campaigned on legislative matters; i.e., to do the things they want to do, you have to pass laws. The president is allowed to propose legislation, but in my memory, the president does little legislating. Presidential promises are rarely things the president can actually do directly.

The biggest effect the chief executive has is in the executive branch. Barack Obama’s biggest effects will be made by his cabinet secretaries and other executive officials. It’s the decisions they make, and the way they conduct their jobs.

New York Times, February 26, 1994: The Surgeon General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, said today that Medicaid must have been developed by “a white male slave owner”

Washington Post, August 2, 1995: Attorney General Janet Reno yesterday steadfastly defended President Clinton’s role in the Waco tragedy

Let’s not forget Clinton’s CIA chief and Secretary of Defense, on whose watch Osama bin Laden’s power grew to threaten the US in New York City. (No, it’s not their fault — the fault for terrorism lies with the terrorists.)

Perhaps fortunately in most cases, the President’s legislative aspirations are muted, while his executive tools are expanded. And the President does hold a lot of power, because a lot of people — 36,408 people work for the executive branch — are in the President’s employ.