What will the next Democratic President face upon taking office?

[Ignacio Upton]

Assume it is January 20, 2009. Our eight-year nightmare is over, and George W. Bush is finally leaving office (I don't want this thread to be filled with impeachment or coup scenarios). The new DEMOCRATIC President takes office, with his hand placed upon the Bible, as he stares John Roberts in the eye and is sworn in. In the audience sit the departing members of the Republican D.C. gentry, ready to retreat back to the bowls of the think-tanks for another four to eight years, until they can find another puppet, another cowboy figure that people will want to "have a beer with."
The economy, while it has managed to avoid outright recession, is teetering on the brink of a major one, as the housing bubble has burst, and as China is contemplating calling in the country's debts, sending the Dow down to 9,728, after a 2007 high of 11,625. Unemployment is at 5.3%. GM and Ford recently filed for bacnkrupcy, allowing for them to do some serious union-busting. A second Bracero program was passed, making Mexican workers an institutionalized underclass instead of an informal one. Our troops are still bogged down in Iraq, even though Bush had the troop count reduced by 5,000 as an election ploy to help the Republican candidate (the October Surprise of 2008.)
Upon taking the oath of office, the new President addresses the mostly joyous masses attending the inauguration. He says:
"My fellow Americans. Today we are met with an immense challenge. After a turbulent eight years under my predecessor, this country has yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are still stagnant, as a nation, and we will look back on the 2000s as "America moribund" because of reckless decisions in public policy. We must work together now to right the wrongs of the past eight years, and to return America to the level of self-fulfillment that it had a decade ago. However, I cannot do it alone, as your help is the most important in this battle to restore piece, prosperity, and America's world standing."

You finish the storyline. Propose what the President will face, and what he will have to do.

[theophilus]

1. It will be horrendously hard to make progress.

The new President better have most of his staff selected, in theory, ahead of time for a quick plug in. Possibly using as many former Clinton or Carter people as are possible. Fine tuning can come later.

The economy is a mess. Jobs must be created that are good and that will stay here.

The environment is about to kill us all. We must get on board with reducing greenhouse gases. We must get away from petroleum as much a possible. These initiatives can lead to the job creation listed above.

Our foreign policy is a nightmare. We must reduce the military industrial complex while at the same time securing our borders and really protecting our people. We need to actually make friends of other countries. All this can be done. I question our whole system, though. If we make progress and another NeoCon gets in after one or two terms it will all be undone again. I wouldn't blame the world for just disregarding us.

These are a few things. Our main hurdles are corporate control of the country. These beasts must be beaten back again. The media is theirs. This is so important but so difficult.

I feel that Al Gore would best be able to jump right in. He and his veep must "hit the ground running" and trumpet all successes.

A third to a half of the country will be skeptical of a real Dem president at best and oppositional at worst.

These are Herculean tasks. If a Dem can pull it off, they will be----imho---on a par with Lincoln or F.D.R. Do we have a leader of that calibre? We'll see.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. A major energy crisis. A world at our throat. Bankruptcy.

At this point, the possibilities are so outlandish that making predictions other than "Wahhh!" is futile.

But I could be wrong.

--p!

[bklyncowgirl]

3. A gigantic mess--we need to nominate the best we can.

Biggest Issues:

Reversing the damage that Bush has done to our prestige and credibility in the world.

Finding some way to deal with the mess in Iraq (which by that time could also be the mess in Iran.

Conducting a real, global effort to stop terrorism beginning with an all out effort to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden.

Taking the lead in international efforts to reverse global climate change.

Reversing the decline of the American middle & working classes by renogiating trade agreements that favor cheap labor, introducing tax reform that favors the ordinary American and advancing a national health insurance plan that will save money & make sense.

Dealing with the budget & trade deficts

Finding a balance between security and human rights.

That's why I want the Democratic nominee to not only be good on the issues I care about but also someone who has a strong record as finding creative solutions to problems in government, who has thought, spoken and written on the issues facing us for a long time and who also has the personal charisma to win election in a country where all too often our elections are popularity contests.

Al Gore probably comes the closest on the experience end of the spectrum but there is that charisma thing. Maybe his movie will give him a little boost in the likeability rating.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Not to mention the MSM trumpeting about a failed presidency from Day One.