The overall shape of the Republican campaign to defeat Obama is now clear. In fact, it really has been clear since before Obama had even announced his candidacy. A lot of it is untruthful and scurrilous, just as we all knew it would be. Some of it is based on things the HRC campaign said, but a lot of it is based on what Obama supporters have said. In most cases, it is twisted and spun almost beyond recognition. Based on some polls, it appears that almost 20% of Americans have already accepted even the most ludicrous and easily-checked falsehoods about Obama as God's truth, and they are lost forever. I suspect that number is growing.
The question is, what does all this signify? I find myself reacting in various ways. This last week or so as been a very bad one, reaction-wise, what with the stupidity of the Supreme Court, the stupidity of certain Texas grand juries, the stupidity revealed in the well-known Washington Post article about Obama myths, and the scurrilousness of the media's misrepresentation of Wesley Clark's comments regarding the value of military service. It is just really depressing that so many Americans, of all economic and social classes, are as close-minded and mean-spirited as this week has shown them to be.
However, what I am hoping is that Obama isn't sitting around typing in a blog diary feeling sorry for himself. What I am hoping is that he will seize an excellent opportunity, if he can figure out how to do it, to demonstrate what it means to lead. If he can find a new direction to take his campaign that will surmount the din of the right-wing attacks, then not only will things calm down a bit, but he would have, in effect, responded to the largest underlying complaint, that he isn't ready to be president, in the most direct possible manner.
I feel that this is really a kind of turning point. If Obama can successfully respond to the current set of attacks, then I think that everyone will feel much more positive about him, even those who have been supporting him all along. On the other hand, if he can't get traction, if the 20% becomes 30% or more, then goldang it, we may end up with another effing Republican president.
So, I'm trying to do what I can financially and on the Internet as a persuader to support him, but this isn't about me and it isn't about you. This is all about what Obama is going to do as a leader to build unity and consensus rather than division and fear. I'm waiting, cautiously optimistic, and hopefully not for too long.
Greg Shenaut