Seriously, I Wish Someone Could Convince Me

This morning at the grocery store I spotted a friend of the family. Since I don't know her too well I considered avoiding her completely but for some reason decided to stop her and say howdy. After brief chit-chat she asked about my job search. When I told her that there has not been any progress she immediately responded, "Well Obama's coming soon. He will turn it all around."
I probably should have just smiled at her, said goodbye, and hauled ass to the car. But that's not like me. Of course I wasn't going to engage her in a full-on political debate either so I reached for something I thought would be factual and mostly non-confrontational: I said, "We can't afford to wait that long."
I was completely shocked by her response, "We're just going to have to. What choice do we have, right?" She continued to try to get me to agree with her, but how could I? I mean I know being a retired grandmother, she and I are in very different places in our lives. But could she really be that fatalistic? Do people really think we are that powerless? What do they think we are supposed to do in the meantime?
I can't help but feel really bad for her. Sure, financially she is much better off than I, but I wouldn't trade places with her if I could.
If this is the attitude of the country, things are definitely going to get much worse. Please, please, please convince me I am wrong...