Obama Wins!: An end to the declining Social Capital in America?

Congratulations President-Elect Obama.

I know that it has been awhile since my last post and I apologize to all. It seems fitting that I am re-starting my blog the day after the historic election. To begin, I voted for Senator John McCain but after the country overwhelmingly chose the new direction that is Barrack Obama, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he really is going to lead from the middle (or at least right of the extreme left) that he ran from to became President-Elect of the United States. His associations frighten me but maybe they were blown out of proportion for the election. The world roared with excitement (which scares me). But I hope he can bring the country together and think about it: it would be beneficial if he was able to connect to world leaders that maybe were reluctant to connect to President George W. Bush (minus Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, North Korea). If anything, as McCain and others have stated, It is amazing how far the Civil Rights movement has come. The greatness of America lies in the fact that only in America could an African-American be elected the highest office in the world only after 40 years of voting. It wasn't that long ago that blacks and whites were separated at water fountains, buses, restaurants and schools. It would be interesting if any polls exist from the 1960's that asked respondents how long they thought it would take to elect an African-American.

How could it be a negative when we are looking at possibly the highest election totals in a century! What does this say to Robert Putnam's Social Capital Theory? A theory which includes political participation as one of the factors that determine the social fabric of a community. He concludes that social capital is on the decline in the United States when one looks at voting, social memberships, and interacting with family, friends, and neighbors. Contradicting declining voting trends throughout the 20th century, we recently have witnessed an expansion and explosion of political participation, a corner-stone to Putnam's theory.

Has Social Capital been on a decline? I have vigorously stated no throughout graduate school and as well as today. The way in which Barrack Obama used a grass-roots campaign that excited, energized, and got out the vote to millions of young and old, and white and black Americans, many of whom have never voted before, demonstrates that Social Capital is NOT on the decline. Besides the thousands or hundreds of thousands of volunteers that President Obama had recruited during his election, many more donated money as a symbol of their political participation in the historic vote, increasing social capital. Not to mention the thousands that volunteered and donated to Senator McCain. In conclusion to this point, Social Capital is not on a decline. (For more information on Social Capital read Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone)

Next, I vowed not to be like the bitter Democrats after the 2000 and the 2004 elections. They made me so mad saying "President Bush is not my President" actually, they would say "Bush is not my President" as most didn't even give him the respect of the Office by calling him "President". President Obama is my President and we all should support him (at least until he messes up). We need someone to unite the country passed our political differences and on to the real issues and legislation that need help so badly. I hope and pray that the person to do this is President Barrack Obama because we are either stuck with him, Vice President-Elect Biden, or Speaker of the House Pelosi for the next four years.

To you, President Obama, Good Luck!