By Ivo Ivanov, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices panelist

Reason # 3: GEORGE W. BUSH

In the end, it was the catastrophic 8-year reign of the worst president in the United States of America that decided the election long before it even started.

Everything hurricane “George” touched turned to dust: the economy, international diplomacy, wars, crisis events, ecology, energy policy, education reform, etc., etc., etc. Almost every major decision taken by this administration had either disastrous or destructive consequences. There was an unparalleled level of incompetence and lack of accountability in the White House. The so-called Bush doctrine is a scam: it doesn’t exist because its policies are simply chaotic decisions and desperate adjustments driven not by strategy but by special interests and greed.

In observing the election I probably have the advantage of being an outsider: someone who has been raised in a foreign country without allegiance or prejudice to either party. To me, both major parties hold pretty much the same ideals and share the same master plan for America. I’ve always held the Republican party in very high regard relative to its history, vision and last but not least contributions to the demise of communism.

To me George W. Bush shamelessly betrayed the Republican Party and its legacy. Running 5 trillion dollar deficits, nurturing a monstrous bureaucracy, inventing reasons for a preemptive war on-the-go, torturing prisoners against international law, re-writing the constitution and spending lavishly non-existing political and financial currency goes against every Republican principle. This probably explains why a few hours ago so many of my Republican friends voted for Obama.

The country realized the gravity of its predicament and how crucial it is to never again vote simply for “the guy you’d rather have a beer with”.
Poor John McCain tried so hard to disassociate himself from the tainted Bush legacy but such effort was always a doomed, Sisyphusian task. All Obama needed to do was simply mention the name “Bush” and McCain in the same sentence.

“Change” was the code word adopted by both campaigns but it came far more fluently to the Democratic candidate. It didn’t help that McCain decided to absorb some of the current administration’s residual military testosterone and declare a stubborn stance on the unpopular presence Iraq. Looking back, it was the inescapable, ominous shadow of the Bush factor that decided this historic election.

Reason #2: SAME AS REASON #3

Reason #1: SAME AS REASON #3 AND REASON #2

At the end, I believe November 4th, 2008 gave all of us a historic opportunity to participate in a one-of-a-kind election. We will look back at this day years from now as one of the defining moments of this country’s epic trajectory.

This was not a victory for Obama and the Democrats. This was a victory for all of us: Republicans, liberals, independents, blacks, whites…Americans. It was a victory for “change”, because eight years deep into the 21st century, we are finally ready to really enter the new Millenium the way we are supposed to: as the beginning of a new era.

CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!