26 Jan 09 CNN Does Obama need to be a better president because he is black?

Here is a question that was posed by CNN.

Will people hold Obama to a different standard because he is the first African-American president?

Based on what we have seen from the media especially CNN is absolutely. He has clearly been held to a totally different standard than McCain, and even Hillary Clinton. The bar has been set far lower than it has been set for any other presidential candidate. It only stands to reason that as president the similar low bar will be set so that as an absolute average president the media will swoon and praise it as great. I’m now looking at this based on how the media will cover it, perhaps not how history will look back on it. I’m not sure whether this biased coverage from the media is based on their love for him, or just being afraid to criticize a black person, but it is clear that there is a bias.

The problems we face now are significant and we need a greater than normal president to set us on the right track to fix our problems in a way that strengthens us for the long term. Looking at what he has proposed we will likely see a short term bump in the economy. The problem is is much of the overall recovery plan will provide a short term bump, but weakens us for the long term. The biggest problem is the increased intrusion by the government, and increased deficit spending. Both of those things have been proven over time to negatively effect an economy over time.

Obama may have it easy as far as media coverage goes, but in order for us to really address the problems our country has he really needs to step up. Unfortunately, I’m finding that with many of the issues that need to be addressed he is proposing plans that are not sound.