Staff Writers
Background: Andy Olson, 72, is a Republican who voted for President Bush (twice) and for U.S. Sen. John McCain. An aviator in the Marines who served two tours in Vietnam, he flew 560 combat missions and retired after 24 years of service. He is the general manager of Cedar Creek Development in Aiken County.
SUMMATION OF E-MAIL RESPONSE: People should respect the office of the president and give President-elect Obama a fair chance, unlike what the media did with President Bush.
"I think we need to be very careful and watch ourselves and not do the same thing that was done by the Democrats and the liberals, the 'Hate Obama. Hate Obama.' We don't want that," Mr. Olson said. "When you do that -- and that's what happened to Bush -- it goes international. People all around the world listen to that and see that. When they hear it enough, they start believing it. I don't want to see that happen to Obama. Hey, it's for the good of the country if he's successful. And that's the important part. That's what we have to look at."
WHAT PROMPTED HIM TO RESPOND: Mr. Olson said it was an e-mail he received that attributed some things to comedian/talk-show host David Letterman. In the e-mail, Mr. Letterman takes Americans to task for not being grateful for all the good things about their country. The e-mail was fictitious, but Mr. Olson found that it still had some "good facts." He decided to write something to tick off his brother-in-law, who he said was an "ultra-ultra liberal" and a Bush-hater. He decided not to send it to his brother-in-law, but instead to the newspaper.
HAS HIS OPINION CHANGED since the election? No. He said President-elect Obama has hit the ground running by getting his economics team in place and working with President Bush in a bipartisan fashion. On whether he's impressed with the president-elect so far, Mr. Olson would only say, "I'm optimistic he's going in the right direction -- now."
EXIT QUOTE: "Obviously from my military background, I've spent a lot of time supporting this country and defending this country and being prepared to defend this country, and I just hate to see it torn apart. It's a great country. This country has so much to offer and I just hate to see it torn down at all."
The election is over, and now is the time to take stock of where and how we want to go in the future. It has been stated that we should not look back, but look to the future. I plan to do that; however, I believe some things need to be put in the proper perspective.
The Bush haters need to evaluate the big picture and get off of this continuous diatribe about how bad he has damaged our country. We can go back over history and identify numerous leaders like Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Reagan, and Clinton who have made mistakes far worse than President Bush ever dreamed of making.
I love this country and feel that I have done my part to make it better, and I hate to see anybody tear it down. I may not like everything that Obama does or what he stands for; however, he will be the president and the leader of the free world and I will respect that position.
This is certainly more than the Democrats have done during the past eight years. The crescendo of "I hate Bush" by the liberals and the liberal media has done more to tear this country apart and lower our esteem in the free world, than anything George Bush has ever done.
Background: Bruce Stuart, 44, is a lifelong Republican. He works as a maintenance manager at Savannah River Site, and lives in Aiken with his wife of 21 years and his 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. He was born and reared in western Pennsylvania.
SUMMATION OF E-MAIL RESPONSE: Bruce Stuart needs a president who puts Christ first. In his eyes, President-elect Obama is not that president.
"He's lacking a faith in Jesus Christ," he said. "He's pro-abortion; that's an abomination. He doesn't believe homosexuality is a sin. It is, and that's scriptural."
WHAT PROMPTED HIM TO RESPOND: He has a Sunday subscription to The Augusta Chronicle and noticed the election feedback solicitation on the front page. He said the opportunity was different from the typical letter to the editor, so he wanted to express his disappointment with the outcome of the presidential election: "I was not happy that he was elected, because he spent three times as much on liberal media."
HAS HIS OPINION CHANGED since the election? No, he said President-elect Obama has reinforced his views. In spite of that, Mr. Stuart said, "I will pray for him and support him now that he is president."
EXIT QUOTE: "I felt like everything was based on the economy tanking recently. Politically, his giveaway promises will only cost taxpayers money. I also question whether his loyalties are to this country or to Mideast allies. My hope is that I'm wrong about his motives. I hope he's nothing more than another liberal left-wing Democrat."
The question asked is: What does the election of Barack Obama mean to you (me)?
Obamanation/Abomination
It means our nation at the prompting of a very liberal left-wing media has believed a lie versus the truth. We've allowed Hollywood to influence the ignorant and weak-minded while the discerning, conservative citizens are silenced as intolerant by the same media.
With economic challenges before us we've forgotten the fact we are theÂfattest, most spoiled nation on the face of this earth and instead of realizing we are divinely blessed we embrace "change" without any concern as to what is to be changed.
We risk national security for the delusional "hope" offered by a man with a name that closely resembles or matches our enemies of the Islam belief system. A faith that this country was not founded on. This man "worshipped" in a church of hate and anti-patriotic bigotry. He's associated with known terrorists and has outlined a tax plan/health care plan "to spread the wealth"Âthat educated people recognize as socialism.
Thomas Jefferson felt there were four bedrock necessities of democracy. An educated, informed electorate was No. 1, yet a large number of Obama supporters did not even know what party he represented nor the platform he stood on; they simply wanted to vote for the "black" man or vote for "change."
If you want to change something, how about: Let's not add to the 40 million babies that have been aborted, let's put God back into public schools, let's stamp out the efforts to remove "One nation under God" from the pledge and "In God We Trust" from our money and quit prohibiting the public display of the Ten Commandments.
If you want to change something, get on your knees and change yourself, pray for your president (no matter who he is) and take responsibility for yourself and quit waiting on the government to "save you."
So, what does the election of Barack Obama mean to me? It means we'll follow the same path as the Roman Empire or the nation of Israel when they turned their backs on God. Can we learn from history before it's too late?
Background: Edward Maner said he is in his 50s and works as a customer service specialist at the Georgia Department of Labor. He is a lifelong Democrat and has self-published two books, A Common Sense Guide to Parents Who Want to Send Their Kids to College and Looking at Real Life Through the Eyes of an American Bad Boy.
SUMMATION OF E-MAIL RESPONSE: Mr. Obama will be a great president and has the historical bloodlines to prove it: "Let me see if I can put it this way. We have a track record to show that there have been people of color who have done great things who have made significant contributions to our American culture, but these things never got played up or were pushed under the rug or the rock or what have you. All I'm saying is that because of our African heritage, it's a continuation that we will always have great people of color who will do wonderful things. It started way before Barack Obama. It's that now people are beginning to see that we as people of color are just as smart, intelligent and brilliant as anybody else in the world."
WHAT PROMPTED HIM TO RESPOND: He said he has been impressed with President-elect Obama since reading both of his books, Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope. He said Mr. Obama's resiliency during the campaign showed that he could cope with any problems that come his way.
"He's brilliant and has a beautiful mind. He has shown the American people that he can persevere," Mr. Maner said. "He has resilience and an example would be the Rev. Wright situation. He handled that very professionally. He was able to overcome that particular obstacle and let the American people know that he is someone who can persevere. Without question, I think he can take our country to higher levels."
HAS HIS OPINION CHANGED since the election? "Oh no. I'm more optimistic about him as being the leader of our nation," he said. "I think in the final analysis he will be compared to John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton -- those two for sure. What he has in common with them is that John Kennedy was brilliant, Bill Clinton is brilliant, and I see Barack Obama in that same light. I think that in the years to come, when you mention names like John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, Barack Obama will be mentioned in that category also."
EXIT QUOTE: "If he wasn't up to par intellectually or someone qualified to hold that position, the majority of African-Americans would not have voted for him because I don't think they would want anyone to represent them who would possibly be an embarrassment to the nation."
My study of American history has taught me that Lewis Latimer created the filament for the electric light. Benjamin Banneker created the time clock. Phillip Reid designed the United States Capitol and the White House. Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed the first open-heart surgery. Dr. Charles Drew acquired and showed the world how to preserve blood plasma. Garret Morgan designed the traffic light. Jan Matzeliger created the sole for walking shoes. Frederick Douglass and Thomas Fuller taught themselves to read, write and calculate mathematics.
Therefore, President-elect Barack Obama, who's also brilliant, intelligent and talented, is linked to these individuals by heritage. Therefore, this provides a valid reason for me to see him as becoming one of the next great United States presidents.
In essence, I'm convinced that he's going to serve our nation in such an extraordinary manner, until he's going to be compared to John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, who are two of America's greatest presidents.Â
From my vantage point, it's quite obvious that Mr. Obama is definitely capable of leading our great nation to greater levels of accomplishment. And if there are Americans who doubt Mr. Obama's great worth to our nation as being an excellent United States president, then I must conclude that these individuals are non-objective thinkers. And for me, this is truly sad and disgusting.
It's imperative for all Americans to not forget about the great and significant past contributions of black American men. Since these individuals were good and bold enough to impact American history in a positive and meaningful way, therefore, Mr. Obama has qualities and credentials to do the same. Being that I'm a man of color it truly would be dumb, stupid and ignorant of me to think otherwise. To paraphrase a sound recorded by pop recording artist Mary J. Blige: Mr. Obama is going to be just fine. Trust me!
Background: James Harris, 48, is a registered Democrat who voted for President George W. Bush twice, he said, because he liked the smart people that the president surrounded himself with and the fact that he was sincere. He voted for President-elect Obama. He is a retired Army master sergeant, who served as an Army medic in his 26 years of service. He works as a JROTC instructor at Emanuel County Institute. He is a native of Newport News, Va. He has lived in Hephzibah since 1995 with his wife of 27 years, and has an adult son and daughter.
SUMMATION OF E-MAIL RESPONSE: President-elect Obama is the right man for the job, because he cares about the people, and, like President Bush, has a sincere presence and has surrounded himself with the right people regardless of his race, gender or social status. "People say he's inexperienced, but he's been in Washington. He understood what was going on from foreign policy, health care issues and economic problems."
WHAT PROMPTED HIM TO RESPOND: "I read the different responses to articles seeing negative comments, so I felt like this was an opportunity to hear some positive things about Mr. Obama. Most of the comments were not fair. They put their feelings into it rather than the actual facts."
HAS HIS OPINION CHANGED since the election? "No, because I still feel pretty good about it. He's selected some key cabinet members. He's already showing how he wants to approach everything."
EXIT QUOTE: "This guy deserves a fair shot. This guy is smart. He ran a clean campaign. I think he's going to put his best foot forward. I don't expect him to walk on water, but I do believe in the change we need."
I'm excited to see a person elected into the presidential office I believe will help turn the direction of our government; I have seen how President-elect Obama, over the last year and a half exercised his brilliance by surrounding himself with smart people who have a concern for everyone in our wonderful country.
Mr. Obama has run a campaign like no other; I believe that was a small taste of what he can do. This year's election has proved just that! Everyone is paying attention to our political affairs and concern for the country's problems like never before -- both old and young. Our country's huge problem is not about race, gender, political party problems -- it's everyone's problem!
Anyone who can't get over the outcome of the election needs to grow up, be a part of the team to help rally with our leaders of this country.
I also believe that everyone deserves a fair chance to prove themselves whether we like it or not. I believe Mr. Obama's leadership will help transcend the country in a positive direction, however I don't expect him to walk on water neither ...
