The campaign, the election, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama have affected most Americans in personal and unique ways. Each of the following five Americans have taken their time to share their personal thoughts on the Obama Presidency and the economy.
It is a privilege for this writer to listen to, and read each of the interviewees' unique responses who have given me permission to share their opinions with the public. My original intention was to write a piece based on my interviews with these Americans, but as it turned out, their answers were compellingly thoughtful that deserved to be treated as an individual portrait of an American in her/his own voice.
In our daily experiences, each of us would have met or at least, known someone whose background would mirror these Americans. This writer is grateful for these individuals' time and candid opinions. The responses reflect these five voters' thoughts and the writing is my responsibility, if there are any inaccuracies, they would be my error.
The group included two first-time voters among the five voters. All voted for President Obama. All five are college educated or in colleges, and they uniformly considered themselves middle class. The three college students work to supplement their student loans and modest assistance from their parents. The two remaining women consisted of a supervisor and an office administrator.
The age ranges from 20 to 50 years old. They are Americans of African, English-Irish, Latino, and Vietnamese heritage.
These are the questions posed to each person:
1) Describe your expectations of the Obama Presidency.
2) What are your thoughts on President Obama's economic plan?
3) How do you think the President's plan to address the middle-class will help you and your family?
Mr. Michael Allsop, Jr.
24 years old
City College of New York , New York
I was really excited about attending the swearing-in ceremony. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to attend inauguration and to be a part of changes in our country. This was the first time I was ever interested in a presidential race and inauguration. I also feel blessed to witness history in the making because someday, I can tell my children and their children about my being a part of an American historic time. There were people from everywhere around the country and even from other countries who came to celebrate the inauguration.
I believe our country will have a great future. We now have a President who has intelligence, integrity, and who has the right priority, the American people. I just hope that people in our country will give him the chance to right the wrongs of our country. They need to understand that changes take time and that nothing changes over night, especially the bad economy, job losses, and costs are rising.
My family is middle class and everyone works hard to budget our expenses since the cost of living keeps going up. I like the idea that President Obama is focusing on helping the middle class in his economic stimulus plan. I don't remember other Presidents paying attention to the middle class after their elections. I'm impressed that President Obama has already proposed an economic plan to strengthen the middle class, and it's not even a month yet.
I think the economy will stay the same for awhile. Jobs need to be created instead of the current rise in job losses that happened this week. I expect that in time, life for the middle class will improve because of the tax program that President Obama proposed.
Personally, I am doing all I can to budget, as I work as a technologist while going to school for my Engineering degree at City College. The experience has been challenging for me, but I'm developing hands-on computer skills while attending school to develop technical knowledge in engineering. I'd also like to see the standard of living for the middle class improves.
The Obama presidency inspires me to set my sight much higher because I see all kinds of possibilities for myself. When I was young, I used to think that I'd like to run for a public office, but as I became older, I realized that Engineering suited me better, and the idea of running for a public office would have to wait. Now, as I have witnessed the inauguration of President Obama and the changes in the American public, I think that the idea of public office might be a possibility.
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Mr. Lucas Rodriguez22 years old, first-time voter
William Patterson University, New Jersey
It was a privilege for me to be a first-time voter and to witness the inauguration of President Obama. My general opinions about President Obama is that he comes across sincerely interested in the American public. Our country is experiencing a bad economy that keeps getting worse. I like that President Obama is focusing on the middle class when he releases an economic plan for the middle class, this week.
Presently, I work part-time while going to college. My parents work hard to provide for their children and to make sure that we go to colleges. I think President Obama will be able to improve the economy besides changing the way big business are run in this country.
It's good that the President is concentrating on rebuilding our country and creating more jobs. It's important that President Obama is paying attention to people like my parents and me because the middle class is struggling to make ends meet. I think President Obama will succeed in the long run, but our country is going to struggle economically for awhile.
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Ms. Gigi Nguyen23 years old, first-time voter
Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY, New York
I'm from Springfield, Massachusetts. I voted for the first time because I was excited about the changes that President Obama promised that he would bring to Washington D.C. I want to be able to get a job that pays enough for me to pay down my student loans, and that President Obama will bring the troop home from Iraq.
I work part-time while going to school and as an out-of-state student, my tuition is high. I also have several student loans to think about after I graduate. My family is definitely middle class and my parents work hard to provide for their children, including me.
I think the Bush administration had the past four years to correct the mistakes of the first four years, but they didn't, so I decided to vote for a different administration. I like how President Obama has involved young people like me in the campaign, after the election, and now as President, he has encouraged us to give back to the community.
I want to succeed in my career as a fashion designer; and I'd really like to give back to my community through services. I'm Vietnamese, and my community needs to get more involved in politics, voting, and election because we don't have any say right now.
I know the economy is bad right now, and I am worried about getting a job in my industry because it's a very competitive field. But, I also expect that President Obama will solve the economic problems in America as his priority instead of solving Iraqi's problems.
I like his new middle class initiatives because it means he is listening to us, Americans. I think the tax cut for the middle class will help my parents and that's good.
I was really excited about the inauguration because it was historic for me since I voted for the first time. It's historical because Mr. Obama is the first African American to become an American President. I think it gives young minorities like me, a chance to fully appreciate the possibilities for each of us in America to reach our goals, whatever they are, as long as we work hard, aim high and keep going forward.
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Ms. Amanda Elliot - early 30's
Office Administrator
New York, New York
I am thrilled that Mr. Obama was elected as President of the United States. Admittedly, it was a difficult decision for me during the primary between choosing to back Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, but when he won the primary, I was ready to support his presidential candidacy.
I have high hopes for the Obama's presidency - I believe that, while he may be a little short on experience, he is full of enthusiasm and he has surrounded himself with people who can and will give him the best advices. I like his optimistic view of the U.S.'s future and his promises to do the best for the country.
I am concerned that many people have pinned too many high hopes on President Obama that are unrealistic and that the public is not always patient. Since President Obama ran and won on the idea of changes, which appealed to most citizens.
I think President Obama needs to succeed in his economic plan to help boost the middle class. The middle class is the most neglected group of people in our country, politicians talk about us, but they have never fully address the issue head on like President Obama. I'd like to be able to earn enough to save something extra, but with the costs of everything going up, I have been spending more time trying to find ways to economize and balance my own budget.
Overall, I believe that President Obama has good strategies for our country: economically, politically, internationally. I believe he will get us out of the quagmire that is Iraq and will be able to help negotiate for peace between Israel and Palestine.
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I think it's fantastic that an African American made it into the White House, but more particularly that President Barack Obama because he's smart, savvy, charismatic, and seems to know how to get things done without playing politics, as it were. I expect to see good things happening during his presidency. I don't want to sound pessimistic, but being a true New Yorker, I worry and have my fingers and toes crossed that it's not a one-term presidency.
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Ms. Michele Barbel - early 50's
Supervisor
Spring Valley, New York
I feel honored as an American citizen under President Obama. In candor, I never thought that I would see an African American President in my lifetime. I am especially happy that the presidency goes to the person whom I think is best suited for the job, regardless of his ethnicity. I'm a firm believer that anything is possible and knew that it was only a matter of time before a minority was elected to the office of the president – I just never thought it would be in my lifetime.
You see, as a child growing up in Saint Thomas, VI, I never realized that there was a difference between black and white. I've always just viewed people as "just people" –race, creed, or color was never a factor for me.
It wasn't until we moved to New York that I realized that there was a definite distinction between black and white or any other nationality for that matter. My sisters and I learned the hard way.
In 1963, while my mother was visiting my dying grandmother, her mother, in a Manhattan hospital my mother told us to play in the park across from the hospital because we were too young to visit my grandmother at the time. While we were playing, a group of white male teenagers came up to us and started chasing us shouting "N-----s." We never even knew what the word meant but we ran for our lives. When my mother returned to the park she found us scared and in tears, this was something we were not use to. We asked her a lot of questions from what was a "N-----" and why those boys didn't like us. We had never been subjected to anything like that before. That was my first taste of bigotry, but there would be other incidents. Incidents that would "almost" make me think that I was less of a person than what I was.
As I got older, I would reflect back on that incident and it would make me angry, but also made me more determined to be the best that I could be. I've always believed that no one race was better than any other race, and people should be judged by their character, and not by the color of their skin. Now, I believe that day has finally come because of President Barack Obama.
To tell you the truth, every fiber of my being tells me that he is a special person, almost as if he is ordained and he will make a difference. The time is now for America to change and move forward. It won't be easy because our country is suffering economically and people are not patient for answers.
I expect President Obama to take our nation in a whole new direction. I want him to really effect the change that he spoke of in his campaign speeches. I expect him to serve all Americans, not any special interest groups. I know that he is inheriting a multitude of problems such as our declining economy. Some of these problems are based on bad decisions from President George W. Bush.
I would like to see him cut taxes for middle class people such as myself. I want President Obama to address health care reform. Having been hospitalized 5 times within the last 5 months, I realize more than ever the need for health care reform. I know President Obama is not a miracle worker, and not every issue will be resolved, at least not in one term, but I expect him to try to address these issues that affect most Americans. He will have a tough 4 years ahead and I expect Congress to cooperate with his economic stimulus plans.
I want to wish Good Luck to President Obama, we're behind you.
This blogger thanks each of these men and women for sharing their thoughts and expectations with me.
