Keyword here – almost.

That’s right. I went to Osawatomie the day President Obama flew in to deliver his speech. Alas, instead of actually seeing his face in person, I had to be satisfied with knowing that I was meters away from him…on the other side of a wall…interviewing the Westboro Baptist Church.

I was really excited to be in the same town as the President. Preposterously excited. In addition to being able to say I had seen the President, even for a second, I was excited to be in the location of such an important event. Now that it’s over, I see that I really shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.

First of all, my friends who actually did see him in person said it was just like seeing him on television. Guess I didn’t miss much in that department.

Second, I was seriously expecting him to deliver a historic speech. I made it out in my mind to be something that would go down in the books as an inspirational call to action – something we hadn’t heard before.

But when the time came, it all sounded like the same old stuff.

I can’t help myself – I agreed with everything he said. The middle class needs to be helped out. It’s unreasonable for the rich to have such low taxes. Education funding is the last thing that needs to be cut. Science will be essential to help keep the nation afloat. Former President Clinton eliminated the deficit, we can too. Right? I know!

I’m not going to pretend like I know jack about politics, but it doesn’t take a political science major to realize that Obama has had almost four years to not just talk about, but demonstrate what his beliefs are. And yet, so much has stayed the same. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

I was almost expecting him to apologize and make excuses for not doing it already. Instead, he just plowed on with the same, inspiring words that his new campaign will rely upon.

It made me realize he’s a politician. I understand that the changes he’s trying to make are being opposed on all sides. He might not be our savior, but he’ll do as much as the situation will allow.

In the end, I went home thinking, “At least he’s not Rick Perry.”

Ellen Weiss/The Bulletin
opinion@esubulletin.com