Okay, if I read one more diary about how Obama is far too optimistic, idealistic or inexperienced to be the next Prez. I'll surely puke.
My hunch is that the same people who are faulting Obama for brimming with hope, are the very same ones who have been obsessing over Hillary's tears, and less recently, the salon habits of Edwards.
Lest anyone miss the distinction between these things, let me help. The tears and haircutting are incidences that are devoid of substance. Even if you believe that HRC's waterworks were politically motivated, it doesn't change the fact that analyzing and obsessing about them is stupid and distracting. Perhaps exactly as was intended, but I digress.
What we should really be talking about instead, is the fact that Obama has succeeded in doing something that every candidate has been trying to do since the 60's...he's mobilizing young voters. And it's not just because he has a facebook account or because all of us youngsters still believe in fairy tales, it is because he is so full of hope. Newsflash! But lots of people like him because he is "inexperienced" and because he exudes idealism and hope.
He is inspiring college students, who for the first time in their lives are sitting in class with veterans their same age. He also appeals to students like me who will never know many of my veteran peers because they aren't ever coming home. This matters. Obama is appealing to a hunger for hope where there has been so little, yet he is consistently dismissed as being overly optimistic? Ironically much like young people often are, I might add.
Of course optimism is not enough, we all know that. He'll have to bring the substance, but that's the next step. Speaking as one of the cliche' crowd of "young voters", Obama has my attention, now he needs to do something to keep it.