This is pretty hilarious, and certainly worth passing along. In a sequence leaked online today, an upcoming episode of The Simpsons has Homer Simpson not only voting for Obama, but saying, "Come on! It's time for a change."
This being the universe of the Simpsons, of course, even his best intentions go awry. Check it out:
If there's a golden moment in this, it's this line:
"This doesn't happen in America! In Ohio, maybe, but not America!"
Cynical, funny, and accessible. Frankly, I consider this a key endorsement: Homer rules the "regular guy" demographic!
In news from the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum: The New Yorker has also endorsed Obama. In a long commentary piece entitled "The Choice", they make a number of cogent points. Including:
The Presidency of George W. Bush is the worst since Reconstruction, so there is no mystery about why the Republican Party—which has held dominion over the executive branch of the federal government for the past eight years and the legislative branch for most of that time—has little desire to defend its record, domestic or foreign... Meanwhile, the nominee, John McCain, played the part of a vaudeville illusionist, asking to be regarded as an apostle of change after years of embracing the essentials of the Bush agenda with ever-increasing ardor.
And this gem:
By contrast, Obama’s transformative message is accompanied by a sense of pragmatic calm. A tropism for unity is an essential part of his character and of his campaign. It is part of what allowed him to overcome a Democratic opponent who entered the race with tremendous advantages. It is what helped him forge a political career relying both on the liberals of Hyde Park and on the political regulars of downtown Chicago. His policy preferences are distinctly liberal, but he is determined to speak to a broad range of Americans who do not necessarily share his every value or opinion. For some who oppose him, his equanimity even under the ugliest attack seems like hauteur; for some who support him, his reluctance to counterattack in the same vein seems like self-defeating detachment. Yet it is Obama’s temperament—and not McCain’s—that seems appropriate for the office both men seek and for the volatile and dangerous era in which we live.
Both those these "endorsements" matter, as elements of popular culture underscoring the now-dominant conventional wisdom. Obama needed to connect with America--all America--on an emotional level, and he's done just that.
Regardless of the debate tonight, I think there's a sense the tide has turned.