If Barack Obama can hold onto his lead he will have succeeded not only in winning the Presidency but he will also have changed American politics forever. All Presidents have changed history, but not many Presidents have changed politics. It will not be that he is the first African American President, although historic. It will be in the way campaigns are run and the manner and dignity in which we expect our candidates to behave. This is my hope, and for this reason I say that a narrow win is not enough.
A narrow win in this race would be easy for Republicans and pundits to explain away. I can think of a dozen excuses off the top of my head, anywhere from reverse racism (white guilt elected Obama!) to voter fraud (ACORN!) and they don't even pay me for my opinion. The discussion in the MSM over a close win would probably be that Obama had caught lightning in a bottle early in the race and John McCain the "Comeback Kid" just couldn't do quite enough to catch him. When and why was John McCain ever labeled the "Comeback Kid" by the way? They would blame it on Bush and a down year for Republicans, the economy and the tanking stock market. There might be a few smart people that would point out Obama's 50 state strategy, his massive grassroots organization and the energized youth and minority voting blocs. These reasons however fail to explain the real reason that this race means so much to so many people.
The main reason that this race is so important is because politics in this country must change. The politics of fear and hate need to be defeated, and not by a narrow margin. It's not enough to beat John McCain by 4 electoral votes. It's not enough to beat John McCain by 20 electoral votes. I think this is the reason for some of the concern trolling, I for one get a sinking feeling every time I see John McCain gain a point in a tracking poll or see Barack Obama lose one. Every time a state like Florida is shown as a toss-up it makes me not only sad for the country but angry as well. Angry that the MSM feels the need to treat the candidates with kid gloves. Call Sarah Palin what she is - an unqualified disastrous joke of a candidate. She repeatedly lies about both her record and Troopergate and other than the comedic fake news shows and the biased Countdown and Rachel Maddow shows (they may be biased for us, but they are biased) nobody says a word about it! They will not allow reporters to even ask the woman any questions but they continue to follow her and report on her. Cut. Her. Off. Continuing to cover someone who will not even hold a press conference is pathetic.
Angry that the candidate for President from one of our main two political parties is sowing the seeds of racism and fear. Viral e-mails calling Barack Obama the horrible slur Muslim. I don't know what speaks more about our country - the fact that some people get these e-mails and believe them or the fact that referring to someone who practices one of the largest religions in the world is considered a derogatory term.
Angry that John McCain has devolved into a belligerent angry old man that can't even look his opponent in the eye and people still think he would make a good President. He picked the worst most unqualified running mate in history and people still trust his judgment. That people would actually vote to put Sarah Palin one 72 year old cancer survivor heartbeat from the button is scary (I won't even go into her politics or character again).
Barack Obama has somehow risen above all of this and has never batted an eyelash. If it were me in the seat across from John McCain during the third debate I would have been hard pressed not to go across the table at him. I remember watching the first debate and admiring Obama's cool demeanor and his willingness to agree with his opponent, something that is sorely missing in this country. I also remember pundits slamming Obama for "agreeing with John McCain too much." For someone who claims to be bipartisan and able to reach across the aisle never once have I heard John McCain agree with Barack Obama. Why is it so wrong to agree with someone on an issue? Barack Obama has changed politics already, but he can change it even more with a crushing knockout defeat of John McCain. A blowout win cannot be excused away. 352-186 cannot be explained with reverse racism (sorry Rush). 383-155 cannot be blamed on Bush fatigue (sorry Hannity). We need a crushing defeat to show that politics doesn't have to be about hating your opponent, just about disagreeing with them. That's why it's not enough just to squeak by, this requires a major blowout.