If anyone wants to venture a guess as to what 4 more years of Obama will mean to the U.S. I suggest reading book 6 of Polybius' "General Histories of the Wars of the Romans". The first few sections deal with the origin of government among men and the predictable changes that take place in the form of government due to the inherent weaknesses of humans. He also says that though the speed at which change takes place varies, the sequence of events is always the same.
"Democracy", or even a "representative form of government" where groups of people elect someone they believe to be qualified to represent their interests, is on it's way out, and for reasons that were not as applicable on as wide a scale in Polybius' day as they are in ours . One of the biggest drivers of this is the rapid increase in technical knowledge. It seems that the more advanced technology becomes, the more limited is the group of people who have the ability to master the knowledge necessary, or to find the capital that it takes, to put the new technology to use. The sheer volume of extremely detailed knowledge being accumulated through the use of computers, combined with the limitations of the human brain, also guarantees that very few people will have the time or ability to integrate enough of the vast array of knowledge from all the different fields of study to be able to judge what the best course of action might be.
Looking for a "manufacturing renaissance" to bring better times is a false hope. I work in manufacturing, and the big thing these days is automation. Those who lose their job to a machine are told to go back to school for more education. When they do, what do they find is the area of biggest demand and what course of study are they encouraged to pursue? How to build a better, more efficient machine so more of their former colleagues can be put out of work! And even though it takes workers to design, build and maintain them, these machines still replace more workers than they require. If they didn't there would be no demand for them. We are going to have a lot of adjusting to do.