"Bush var president under en svår tid"

Läs chatten med republikanska familjen Brinkman

Aftonbladet.ses läsare chattade med den republikanska familjen Brinkman efter att McCain förlorade presidentvalet.

Läs hela chatten här:

Familjen Brinkman säger: Hi everyone!

GOP will be back, I hope... säger: Hi! It is not easy to be conservative today, especially no here in Sweden. But anyway, do you think that the Republican party will have to do massive changes in their policies to make a comeback in 2012?

Familjen Brinkman säger: No. I think they will have to make some changes and they will need to put forth younger candidates and candidates that have better public speaking skills (for example, Huckabee). I also think that it’s difficult to determine if the issue was with what the Republicans stand for or if it was instead a backlash against Bush. I kind of think that people were mad at Bush and they blame the current economic problems on him (ridiculous as that may be). McCain did amazingly well, capturing 46% of the popular vote, despite the poor economy and many of the failures of the Bush administration. The outcome may have been different if the election had occurred a month ago.

Lars E säger: Do you think the relation between Usa and Russia will be better now,when Obama became the president?

Familjen Brinkman säger: Yes, maybe for about six months. The problem with US and Russian relations is Vladimir Putin because he is someone who doesn't respect human rights and wants to go back to “the good old days” (sarcasm) of the Soviet regime. No US president will be friendly to his ideology of abuse, control and imperialism.

Alan säger: Now when Mccain have lost, will you support Barack Obama?

Familjen Brinkman säger: The answer is yes. He is going to be the president of our nation. I will support him and hope he will do a wonderful job as president. If he does I will vote for him next time and if he doesn't I will vote for an opposing candidate. He may not have been my choice, but the American people have elected him to our nation’s leadership and I respect him for his position and support him as the leader of our great country.

mats säger: Mats: After these past 8 years, how do you think history will judge George Bushs administration

Familjen Brinkman säger: I think history will reflect that George Bush was president under a difficult time. Sometimes he made it even more difficult because of the advice he took from others (Carl Rove, Dick Cheney, etc.). Also, he was too stubborn with his decisions and rather than admitting that he maybe made a mistake he just kept moving ahead in a bad direction. If he would've admitted his mistakes he could have resolved the issues and then avoided some of the criticism and also the pain that he put the country through.

Tim säger: Which changes do you think will happen? Any special you looking forward to?

Familjen Brinkman säger: I don't know which changes will happen but i hope Obama creates a policy of free ice cream for everyone. Seriously, Obama will be in a very difficult situation because the democratic party expects certain policy decisions that I don't think he will be able to satisfy (tax cuts for 95% of Americans; tax increases on incomes over $250,000/yr.; national healthcare for everyone; increased spending on education; quickly extracting US troops from Iraq). It's easy for him to make promises while campaigning, but I think he's smart and he knows that he cannot deliver on some things that were promised.

Linnea säger: Are you suprised by the result?

Familjen Brinkman säger: Absolutely not. During the last month McCain was self-destructing. If only he could have given speeches like last night throughout his entire campaign … that was probably the best one he gave during the whole campaign and it was to concede the race.

Hans säger: Do you expect that the view of the US in Europe will change now and if so, how and why?

Familjen Brinkman säger: Yes, I believe the US will immediately start attacking Europe and I'm not in favor of that because I love the Swedish people. I hope that we will have a more collaborative relationship with our European allies because it is the power of our collective alliances that gives us strength.

Carl säger: Hello the Brinkman family, How are you feeling about McCain's loss? The democrats gained almost complete control of the congress, how will this affect you? And how did the senate election go between Norm Coleman and Al Franken? I just got back to Sweden from living a year in Woodbury, Minnesota and it hasn't really been covered in Sweden. Have a happy thanksgiving!

Familjen Brinkman säger: The news is reporting that Coleman won, but they will have to do a recount because the margin of victory was only half a percent. The Democrats have gotten what they wanted – control of the Senate, House of Representatives and the White House. Now, any bad outcomes from government policy decisions will be blamed completely on the Democratic party. They may feel a little naked without being able to point their fingers at the Republicans when things go wrong.

Oumar säger: Hiya, what are your biggest concern now that Obama is the president of the united states?

Familjen Brinkman säger: My biggest concern is him increasing taxes and hurting the economy more and making it worse. I just don't like taxes. We work hard for our money and I generally think it is more fair for the person who works for the money to be able to keep it.

Veronica säger: Hi, If i have understood you right you were and are quite critical of McCain´s choice to chose Palin as Vice President.Which one should they have chosen instead of Palin according to you? Wasn´t it quite obvious for them to chose a woman, since Hillary Clinton faught against Obama Barack in the beginning, and the Republicans wanted to try to attract female voters to MacCain???

Familjen Brinkman säger: I think it was a good strategy to pick a woman. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of women to pick from in the Republican party. The criteria should have been first to pick a qualified candidate and second to pick a diverse candidate. I think that governor Palin could do a good job modeling womens clothes for Macy's as her next job.

Erik säger: The Swedish media is talking about the "crisis of the republican party". Is that ordinary Swedish leftish talk, or is it true?

Familjen Brinkman säger: The Swedish media is very smart, ha ha. I think there is a crisis in the Republican party mainly due to the backlash against the last eight years of the Republican leadership. Most of the core Republican values (less government, lower taxes, more individual freedom) still hold true but the Republicans in public office have gone to the extreme right of the party and no longer understand what the normal Republican cares about. For example, in this election I voted for an Independent candidate for U.S. Senate and the previous election I voted for a Democrat for Senator – all because the Republican candidates were not very good. I think both of the major parties have attracted people to enter politics who are very partisan and do not reflect the viewpoint of the average American citizen. There are, however, many good leaders in the Republican party, they just don't happen to be in the spotlight.

Sarah säger: After this series with Aftonbladet, have you become more aware of how the world (or at least Europe) looks at the US?

Familjen Brinkman säger: Somewhat. However my best friend lives in Barcelona, Spain, and I hear frequently from him how they view U.S. politics and I think the views are quite the same across all of Europe and the rest of the world. The difference is that the Swedish people are much better looking than the rest of Europe and also much smarter.

Moderator säger: Time for the last question.

lahme säger: hello, why did you supported to McCain? what was the difference between McCain and Obama ?

Familjen Brinkman säger: It's a long answer. I supported McCain because I believe he's a great patriot. I also believe he's more independent in his views

and I agree with his economic policy. Also, I agree with his thoughts on pulling troops out of Iraq. The difference between them is about 25 years of age, color of skin, level of experience in the government and one of them has a better public speaking ability and the other has a prettier wife.

Moderator säger: Thanks to the Brinkman family and to all of you that took part in the webchat!

Familjen Brinkman säger: Thank you so much! It's been fun working with Aftonbladet and corresponding with the Swedish people.