Obama is scheduled to be on Larry King this evening, and despite his recent surgery, Larry King is going to host. Not that I am all that fond of King mind you, but he apparently does not want to miss this opportunity, and neither should we. Controversy about Obama swirls madly around him on this site, as it does about him generally it seems.
So, lets all sit back and watch, then we can fight some more! LOL
Follow me over the dam for my take on why Obama is the "Dean" of '08.
Sarah Carter's diary about how Obama effected her, including how his influence led her to the Dean campaign, got me thinking again about the parallels I see between the Dean Campaign and Obama's.
That isn't a popular view around here, I know, because Dean is the "fight the Repugs" guy, and Obama the appeaser (in some eyes). In some ways Dean and Obama are very different, I will agree. And this in large measure explains why Dean was our champion then, and why Obama seems to be attracting a huge following now.
People are always suspicous of "the cult of personality", looking for "the savior" or a "messiah". I heard this about Dean all the time. However, I am convinced that we search for a "savior" because we are members of a group species, and that's what members of a group species do. When we get into trouble we look for a leader who can lead us in the right direction, and away from trouble. Unfortunately, evil folks understand this perfectly, and thus, this tendency can get us into big trouble, bringing the masses leaders like Bush or Hitler in scary times. That is why many attack these cults of personality in the first place. This is ineffective however, for try as we might we cannot change ourselves from dogs to cats. The trick is to find the right "savior" in times of trouble, and not to be fooled by the "wolves in sheeps clothing" to qoute another leader picked by the people.
In '03 Dean was that guy. He was the "one" because people like me had discovered who Bush was and freaked out. I went looking for a candidate to support because I was so freaked out, although I had never been involved in politics before. At that period of time there were almost no voices raised in opposition to Bush, and the media was completely supine before him and the Repugs. It was a very dark time, one of very little truth telling...other than by the Court Jester named Jon Stewart. Thus, when I and countless others went looking for a leader we wanted a fighter and a blunt truth teller, and that is what we found in Howard Dean.
Today, many more people have awakened to the threat of the Bush administration. Many of them probably are not as informed as you and I, and many may be reacting more to a gut feeling than imperical evidence, but they can sence the ground below as they speed towards it. A recent poll found that 58% of American's just wish that the Bush Presidency was over. As this isn't possible, they seem to be moving on the only way they can, as I did in '03, by looking for the next leader...the person who might be able to clean up the mess. Obama seems to be their guy, at least right now. These folks aren't looking for a fighter, they are looking for the guy or gal who can unite us as a country to face what they understand instinctively will be hard times. They want to feel as they did on Sept 12, 01. Remember those times? Remember when we were all Americans? Barack Obama has worked through his warring racial identities, acheiving racial harmony within himself. Therefore, he is a perfect vessel for the people to pour their hopes of unity into. Not only that, but he has a very solid record of getting real things done across party lines. It looks like he is the right guy for these times.