As an atheist Jew, the born again phenomena seemed a bizarre rite, something completely alien to my kind. However, two recent events have made me realize that I may not be immune to it.
The first occurred with my son who lives in California. He was completely apolitical. I doubt if he even voted. Two years ago when I started telling him about Obama in our weekly phone conversations, he thought I was nuts. This year, when I called him in euphoria after Iowa, he began to take notice because he had never seen me so excited about anything. Anyway, by the time of the California primary, after going through the valley of despair of New Hampshire, my canvassing for the Minnesota primary, etc, he changed. The two of us now have long wonderful father/son conversations about strategy, Ohio, Texas, etc. He is making phone calls and giving money. However, it is the second episode that made the scales fall from my eyes. His best friend, an Asian, was for months leaning toward Hillary. Finally, as the two drove to the polls on super Tuesday, he decided to vote for Obama, as a favor to my son. The two of them went home to watch the returns, and over the next few hours, the conversion occurred. They stayed up half the night, calculating and hoping against hope, as Obama slowly rose in the returns. By the next morning, he was on the phone bank. This realization has given me insight into some other phenomena. Previously, I had asked myself what was wrong with the colleagues at my daily lunch table. How could they talk about football and weather? Didn’t they realize there was a life and death struggle going on right next door in Wisconsin? I now realize the problem is me, not them, and I have made a vow to not mention HIS name. This phenomena also explain something else that the pundits have not awakened to. Every time there is another primary, it leaves behind a new contingent of the converted who start emailing friends, giving money and manning phone banks. This is the tsunami that is sweeping aside the poor Clintons.