The state of the Crimson Nation

By Hunter Ford
On the historic Tuesday night that saw the election of the first black American president, ABC news anchor Charlie Gibson had Alabama football on his mind.

One of Gibson’s fellow newsmen was displaying some foreign newspapers that showed support for Barack Obama. A headline from Great Britain read “Yanks a lot” for Obama’s lead in the polls. Another one read “Gobama!” To that one, Gibson replied, “I guess I’ve watched too much college football this year. That looked like ‘Go Bama’ as in the Crimson Tide down in Alabama.”

Roll Tide! Alabama’s mighty Red Elephants got a national plug on the eventful evening when the GOP’s brand of pachaderms were being donkey-kicked around the country.

I was advised by a friend to stay away from talking politics on a sports site, but the hell with it, I’m going rogue here. It’s amazing to me that our great nation can endure a complete changeover in leadership once every four to eight years. It’s surreal how night and day different (black and white if you will) that the president-elect is from George W. Bush.

If the economy hadn’t bottomed out so badly just before the election, I believe John McCain would have edged Obama. With so many people in this country hanging on for dear life to their homes and their jobs, however, the nation looked to a fresh start.

Putting the election of a black man aside, it’s really not so surprising that Democrats made a surge in this election. If you follow trends, then you would probably recognize that the Republican’s time was up, at least for now. It’s happened many times before. During the Great Depression, preceded by Republicans Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, Democrat Franklin Roosevelt was summoned by the American people to try a New Deal.

Following the Nixon years, Watergate, and the first non-elected president, Gerald Ford, America turned to a Georgia peanut farmer, Jimmy Carter. And in 1992, after an eight-year Ronald “Ray Guns” Reagan presidency and a George “Poppy” Bush term, voters ushered in Bill Clinton.

Politics, like the fate of traditional football powerhouses, runs in cycles. Right now, Alabama football is thriving under its second-year chief executive. It’s not certain how the nation’s new commander-in-chief will fare. Obama will be facing three grave issues (in my opinion)- the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an energy crisis (don’t let the recent drop in gas prices fool you).

Alabama football faces three obstacles to an undefeated regular season- LSU, which has defeated Alabama six years in a row, Mississippi State which beat the Tide the last two, and Auburn which pays property taxes on Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama’s ground attack, its anti-air defense system and it’s soldiers in the trenches will win those wars and head off to burn down Atlanta and take over Miami.

I wish I felt more secure about America’s new head coach. I was among those who supported McCain, because I wanted his seasoned leadership at the helm of our country’s military. Perhaps Obama could be a real maverick and appoint McCain as the new Secretary of Defense. It would be a good strategic move for Obama’s domestic agenda if McCain accepted. The Democrats could pick up a crucial legislative seat assuming Arizona’s Democratic governor appointed a Dem to replace McCain in the Senate.

For now, the Crimson Nation is stronger than it has been since the aforementioned Reagan AKA “The Gipper” occupied the White House. I’ll pray that our nation as a whole will grow stronger in the coming years. God Bless America and Roll Tide!