Presidential Inauguration

It is hard to believe that eight years have come and gone, since George W. Bush was inaugurated for his first term. President Bush has had some successes such as preventing any further terrorist attacks on our soil and in implementing the surge in Iraq which has brought fewer casualties. Despite success in the War on Terror, President Bush's second term has been riddled with failures, such as the faltering economy, turning a budget surplus into a record deficit, and his Administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. However, President Bush's time is up, and in three days, we will have a new President, Barack Obama.

I did not vote for Obama. However, as an American and a patriot, I'm rooting for him to become the best President this country's ever had. Considering the precarious state of our economy, only the most partisan fool would wish for anything else.

There is a segment of the economy that is based on consumer confidence. If people have confidence in a company, they will buy their stock. If people are feeling confident about their job and financial standing, they'll go out and buy a new car.

Right now, this country is suffering from a major lack of confidence, and for good reason. Banks and investment management companies are failing and most importantly, millions of people are losing their jobs. Unemployment may stand at 7.2%, but tell that to the person who's been laid off, and that number seems like 100%. Due to these layoffs, people are paralyzed with fear that they could be next on the unemployment line and are not spending money.

This is why Tuesday is such an important day for our country. We need new direction and President-elect Barack Obama has shown a capacity to inspire people and make them feel good about themselves. Right now, his first duty is to be Psychologist in Chief, in which he needs to make us feel confident about ourselves again, as well as confident in the future prosperity of America.

President Obama has his work cut out for him, but he deserves our support and hope that he accomplishes great things and gets our country moving in a positive direction again. For our sake, let's put partisanship aside and root not for what's best for the advancement of the liberal Democrat agenda or the conservative Republican movement, but what's best for America.