Now What?

In the 1972 movie "The Candidate," Robert Redford plays a lawyer running for the US Senate. This is a particularly intrusive view in the inner machinations that go into stylizing a fresh political idealist into the people's choice. Throughout this passage of his campaign, he has to compromise his idealism for the larger ambition of his party. At the end of the film, he wins the election and he's not sure that he actually wants what he's achieved. As the election celebration erupts around him, he says to himself, "Now what?"

Now what, indeed.

If I hear the expression "economic tsunami" one more time, I'm going to scream. It may be a bit overwrought, but in truth, we are living in dire times. The global financial markets are horrendous. Recession has invaded globally. And in the past few days, some horrific events have taken place in Mumbai and Thailand. This world seems to be going to hell; would you want to be the person stepping into the Commander-in-Chief's shoes in January? Not me. Not for all the freaking tea in China.

I don't envy President-elect Obama's position right now. Like the character Redford played in "The Candidate," our new President comes to the table with idealism and everyman objectives. I can only imagine the weight weighing on him. What will he focus on first? The US economy is critical, the world markets demand attention, the threat of terrorism continues to loom and there's that whole pesky environmental crisis/dependence on foreign oil issue.

I'm not a religious woman, but I'll pray for the man. He has a pretty heavy world resting on his shoulders.