Why Obama won a second four-year term

By Al S. Mendoza

STILL surprised that Barack Obama won a second four-year term as president of the United States?

Not me.

My counsel is, stop wondering.

Just go back to the 2008 polls and you will know the answer.

Four years ago, Obama banked on the campaign slogan consisting only of six letters:  CHANGE.

That word was aimed at the American economy shattered by an administration under a republican, George W. Bush.

Four years of virtual pre-war depression era from 2004-2008 gripped America by the neck under Bush.

Obama, the idealistic democrat, had pounced on that—very, very hard.   And the result was an overwhelming 2008 victory for Obama, affording him the luxury of being the first African-American to ever occupy Capitol Hill.

Thus, when John McCain, the republican bet, was soundly beaten in 2008, nobody was surprised.

Months before the 2008 election, Obama’s win was a foregone conclusion.

Obama had presented himself as not only the best alternative, but the only alternative—the sole solution to the problems, the messes, which the Bush administration had inflicted on the American people.

Not even the unblemished military record of McCain helped his cause, neither the presence of Sarah Palin, the beauteous, if not charismatic, governor of Alaska who was McCain’s running mate.

In one fell swoop, Obama and Joe Biden were swept to victory in a resounding fashion.

To those still not in the know, a winning President in any American election carries with it an automatic victory of his vice presidential teammate.

Thus, like Obama, Biden will serve for another four years as Obama’s “spare tire” at the White House.

Objectively speaking, Obama didn’t do quite well in his four years at the helm, if we go by America’s economy.

Under Obama, business was so bad that even the usually durable auto industry suffered a near collapse.  Only Obama’s billion-dollar bailout move saved America’s carmakers from getting obliterated totally by the motoring moguls in Europe and Japan.

American homes were lost as people faltered in their loans.  Jobs vanished by the thousands and, just days before election, unemployment grew to a staggering 9.7 percent.

But did the American public seriously take note of that as to junk Obama on election day and make Mitt Romney president?

No, not at all.

The American people still believed in Obama:  The mess is still the mess of Bush, and Obama, after four years in office, isn’t done fixing the mess.

In short, the American people still see Obama as the man meant for the job to undo what Bush had done.

In short, the last four years of bad American economy was still the result of Bush’s misadministration.

In short, Obama is a damn lucky guy.

What’s that line again from a hit song sung by Rod Stewart a while back, and written by Jeff Fortgang?  It goes, “Some guys have all the luck.”

CHANGE lives on.

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