Thoughts on 2004, 2008 & Obama
Wed Jan 09, 2008 at 02:23:23 PM PDT
I haven't posted anything here since the 2004 election, which basically slaughtered my faith in politics. The day yesterday reminded me of 2004, when there was just the feeling that Kerry would pull it out and it was supremely puzzling that the polls and the results didn't match. The day dragged on, getting worse by the hour. In 2004, I felt I'd spent too much time reading the thoughts of believers, while not understanding how anyone in hell could support the other guy. I had to abandon this place for a while as a result. I'll mention that this doesn't hurt nearly as much as 2004 because Clinton by no means equals Bush, but it’s a disappointment.
Obama's brought me back into the fold. His candidacy has helped me believe in politics again. Really, his oratory is what this country needs after the fear of the last 7 years. Fear is a feeling, and it needs a counterbalance, just as much as there needs to be change from Bush’s dictatorial policies. That’s what Obama offers: an antidote to fear and ugly nationalism, in addition to sound policy. So he’s better at using platitudes in speeches, that’s his "voice." He’s not a fiscal or social conservative. Do you really think John Edwards is going to be able to pass a progressive agenda? Even with a Democratic majority, weak-willed Democrats will be thinking about the next election against a Republican when they’ll be taken to task.
A recent post at Jack and Jill, a "Black Bourgeoisie perspective on American politics" is pretty telling:
The MINUTE Barack Obama turns into that 'attack dog' that the Progressives are clamoring for, what will happen?
He will become THE ANGRY BLACK MAN.
Obama's stance about unity is very smart politics, while not purely being a political maneuver. If you aren’t moved when he talks, then I don’t know what to tell you.
This’ll make me hated around here but I do not understand the support here of John Edwards. He seems to me a Romney-esque politician, a panderer. And clearly it’s worked. Personally, I don’t trust him, and I’m baffled why people do, even with his progressive agenda, which most people acknowledge is a change from 2004. This anecdote from a Time article last May says a lot. It’s stayed with me:
"Edwards had told Kerry he was going to share a story with him that he'd never told anyone else—that after his son Wade had been killed, he climbed onto the slab at the funeral home, laid there and hugged his body, and promised that he'd do all he could to make life better for people, to live up to Wade's ideals of service. Kerry was stunned, not moved, because, as he told me later, Edwards had recounted the same exact story to him, almost in the exact same words, a year or two before—and with the same preface, that he'd never shared the memory with anyone else. Kerry said he found it chilling."
I’m sure people could say the same thing about Obama: that I’ve been taken in by his talk. But the symbolic power of an African American President, along with the authentic power of his oratory, would do a lot to erase what we’ve been living through, even before any policy was enacted. To think that partisanship is good – that politics is war – is about as positive an idea as war itself. Really it seems like people are drunk on the fight and don’t want to give it up. A vote for Clinton in these times seems like voting for a bitter and pointless deadlock. Support for Edwards based on policy alone seems to overestimate what he’d be able to accomplish, especially when compared to Obama who's been able to inspire a greater number of people.
Even if Obama speaks in too much hyperbole, he’s a moving speaker, which to me is just as important as his agenda – which is going to be Democratic. Experience is not necessarily as important as people have been saying. The President is a representative of his cabinet and advisors, not to mention the country on the whole. Obama’s not going to be running country alone. Case in point about experience: Rumsfeld and Cheney have decades of experience. Clinton has experience being hated and divisive. This is nothing new, but the idea that the President is all-powerful who needs decades of experience isn’t that convincing. It is just as important that the person is able to make compelling speeches, as Obama is able to do.
That said, I think The "Yes we can" line is nice, but I really think he has to move beyond that now. He’s proven that he can rouse people up, now he’s got to prove that he can legislate. That’s been a dirty word but it has some value. So I’m not totally crushed by the events yesterday. I think that for a nation at war, it’s helpful to have someone who’s fought a real battle to win the nomination, rather than just winning it because he’s a fine speaker. It’s better that he wasn’t voted in purely based on star power, which is fickle and fleeting.
I can write this because I’m hopeful that Obama can pull it off. This is like watching history. I’ve always lamented the better past, never felt much a part of a movement, born in 1972 after the sixties were over, and this is the closest I’ve felt to it. Forget "closest," it is a movement. If this was the last day of his campaign, I’d go into a depression for a couple months, like the 2004 election. But it’s not. Far from it. Early in the day yesterday I thought that maybe this needed to be a total blowout for an African American candidate to have any chance. Now I think he’s got to prove himself to people in a longer fight.
I’m sort of all over the place here, but my head’s swirling after having jumped headfirst back into politics. Obama’s candidacy has resurrected (yes, I’ll use that word) my patriotism and faith in the system. If he loses, I’ll likely be back where I was before this whole wave started, having less faith in the country, even if a Democrat gets elected.
Permalink | 9 comments