This is an open letter to you, Senator Obama. I am a huge supporter. But I'm just an ordinary person, and I need to ask you an important question and don't know any other meaningful way to go about getting your attention. I know you are a very busy person, with tons of issues to deal with everyday, but I have been watching this Democratic contest very closely since you won Iowa, and there is one thing I am really very concerned about. Of all the casualties of this long, drawn-out campaign, the biggest one of all is HOPE.
Where has the HOPE gone, Senator Obama?
You have a God-given gift--a unique ability to bring people together and to inspire them. There is no question about this. In state after state, we have seen this happen. As a 50-something Democrat, I cannot remember young people caring this much about getting involved in the elective process before your campaign. But over the past month or so, something has changed. You have stopped doing your big, inspiring, rally-type speeches. Where have they gone? It seems as if they exist only on Youtube now. This is just one person's opinion, I realize, but when the big rallies disappeared, some of the HOPE disappeared too.
Did the teasing from the Clinton campaign make you feel like the speeches were bad?
Did someone tell you that the people who live in Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, North Carolina don't like your brilliant, inspiring speeches?
Did the constant LIES of the Clinton campaign force you to spend all of your waking hours defending yourself, leaving you no time to plan the big rallies?
Did you yourself lose some of the HOPE, Senator Obama?
Whoever told you that the people of Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, and North Carolina don't like inspiring speeches is WRONG. They are so wrong. If anything, people in the economically-depressed parts of this country want the HOPE more. They are hungry for it. Why not test my theory and schedule a BIG, HOPE-driven rally or two in Pennsylvania before April 22 and see what happens? I'll tell you what will happen. There will be lines and lines and lines and lines of people around the block, waiting to hear you. They will start calling each other days before the rally, excited as hell to be part of the moment. They will literally plan their lives around it, bring their kids and take off work, because it is a beautiful thing to behold.
Because something magic happens when you start to talk about HOPE that cannot be quantified and that connects with people. I can't even begin to explain or describe it, but you know what I mean. They feel your leadership, your charisma, your intelligence, your soul.
This something the Clinton campaign can never compete with. Senator Clinton has no charisma whatsoever. And that's why they have spent months denigrating myself and your other supporters as "hopemongers", making us feel like babies or idiots. They have been shaming us. Maybe all the negativity has started to affect you too, Senator Obama. And if that's the case, don't get me started, because to take HOPE away from the American people after eight years of Bush is wrong.
The people of Pennsylvania, in particular, were complaining a couple of weeks ago about being "ignored" in this nomination process. What do you think they were talking about? The desire to hear Senator Clinton (or you for that matter) drone on about a list of ten-point plans?
No--they want to go to a Barack Obama rally and see "what all the fuss is about." They want to feel inspired and happy for a change about something. They want to feel like they have a bit of power, a bit of control over their lives. They want to feel like kids again, when it wasn't such a stretch to dream. They were probably watching you on television, giving all those speeches between January and March, and they were looking forward to going to one of those rallies. Once you start the rallies, the mere anticipation in a town changes the dynamic of this race.
PLEASE Senator Obama. I am asking you to stand back for a moment and look at the campaign from the perspective of one of your supporters. I am worried that the negativity and infighting in this race has taken its toll on you too, as you are only human. I need to feel hopeful again that the truth will out and that we are going to rise above the turkey poo.
So, to wrap this up, on behalf of myself and millions of people like me, I am asking you to go back and do your BIG, HOPE-filled rallies again.
Sincerely,
Karen A.