Are you better off today than you were 8 years ago?

I'm looking forward to a president who understands that there are intelligent ways to solve problems, rather than simply making knee-jerk decisions that sound good. I'm looking forward to a president who will rebuild our reputation in the world -- not only do our enemies resent us, but our allies despise us. I'm looking forward to a president who relies on empirical research and the scientific consensus to make informed decisions. I'm looking forward to a president who recognizes that evolution underlies all of science and is not living in a backward world of superstition and creationism that was put to rest 150 years ago. I'm looking forward to a president who will do what works to invigorate the economy. I'm looking forward to a president who will invest in new technologies and science to drive our economy to make us competitive again in the world.

I look forward to a president who understands a balanced approach to free trade and its effects on our economy at home. I look forward to a president who can diffuse Russia. I look forward to a president who can strengthen youths' desire to become productive men -- at home and in the middle east. I look forward to a president who neither placates nor outwardly despises the people stifled by the entitlement cultures promoted by the government. I look forward to a president who understands that modern warfare requires much more covert than overt ops and involves much more economic pressures and forces than ever. I look forward to a president who turns responsibility over to the "owners" of the country relies on the support of the rule of law as the accepted governance of the country, rather than using the US military as the police. I look forward to a president who values high-quality education as the great equalizer. I look forward to a president who understands that the health insurance system has made us more unhealthy. I look forward to a president who understands the impact of environmental pollutants and that many children (the poor are over-represented) have far too many chemicals coursing through their growing bodies.

I look forward to a president who contributes to operating on America being seen as the great beacon of democracy, equality, and freedom around the world instead of the brutalizing bully for oil that it has become. I look forward to a president who looks for unchecked power as leading necessarily to complete corruption -- which is exactly why our economy is in the dire straights it is in now -- due to banks and investment firms marginally operating within weak laws. I look forward to a president who realizes that trickle-down means trickle-out and that the application of this theory has compromised the infrastructure for entrepreneurship which has stymied our country. I look forward to a president who is not in the pocket of entrenched lobbyists and actively changes the "a-law-for-the-cash" congress. Most of all, I look forward to a president who acts from a set of timeless principles with good judgment, rather than merely talking about "values" buzzwords and fundamentalist bible-beating and using fear to propel the emotions of the people.


Keith Olbermann Interviews Barack Obama: