There has been much discussion lately about Obama's unwillingness to be aggressive and throw a knockout punch at McCain. I could certainly feel that watching the debate. It's a reflection of my personality. I wanted to skewer him. But it's not who Obama is and it's not the way he does things. I read a post this morning on Firedoglake by Glenn W. Smith titled The Great White Hope. He draws a parallel between Obama and the boxer Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight champion. Johnson was criticized for his style. Here's a quote.
He developed a more patient approach than was customary...playing defensively, waiting for a mistake, and then capitalizing on it...[He] always began...cautiously...[and] gave the impression of having much more to offer and, if pushed, he could punch quite powerfully. [His] style was very effective, but it was criticized in the...press as being cowardly and devious.
He thinks this same criticism has been leveled at Obama and that it's racist. I disagree.
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Before I get into my thinking, I should clear up a few details about who I am. Many people make assumptions about the writer based on their ideas, and I want to set those aside first. I'm an Obama supporter. I was a supporter from the moment I first heard him speak. What a breath of fresh air! Someone who actually thought about things for himself and could express his ideas forcefully and cogently. No more manufactured pap from a group of scriptwriters. I am 60 years old. I'm white. I'm disabled.
My parents were the children of immigrants. Their parents had moved to this country to make a better life for themselves and their family. The Depression was very hard on them and left scars that never really healed. They knew first hand the sting of discrimination and insults. They said, "Don't ever let anyone tell you they're better than you." They didn't have very good social skills. But the one thing they were good at was fighting. They never took a snub or insult without fighting back. I used to say that fighting was their only social skill.
In my family if someone pushed you, you pushed back harder. If they hit you, you knocked them down. That strategy works fine for a five year old dealing with bullies in the playground. But it's not very sophisticated. It took me awhile to learn there were other ways of dealing with conflict.
When I was 30, I was working for a Black man named Henry. Henry was very smart and charming. He had the best social skills I have ever seen. Bar none. Unfortunately, there was a recession going on and Henry's business was hurting. He owed a lot of people money. One day, an angry black man came into the offices, screaming bloody murder and carrying a baseball bat. I don't remember his name, but let's call him Joe. Henry came out, smiling and affable. "Joe, what's the problem?" Joe let him know. He was pissed as hell, swearing and cursing. If he didn't get his money he was gonna beat the hell out of Henry. "Joe," Henry said, his voice filled with warmth and friendliness. Joe would have none of it and swore some more. Henry cocked his head to one side, gave him a chagrined smile as if to say, "Come on now. How did things come to this. We're friends. Let's not do this." He put his arm around Joe's shoulder and guided him into his office where he could talk to him. 15 minutes later they emerged. Joe walked out sheepish and chagrined that he had made such an embarrassing scene, without his money or any promise of when he'd get his money, convinced that Henry was his good friend.
It was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen, and a revelation. I realized that I would have handled it completely differently. Push would have come to shove, and the conflict would have escalated. I realized that my parents had given me a very narrow window to view the world through; that there was a much wider view and many more ways to deal with situations like this. Rather than give in to the emotional urge to fire back, Henry kept his eye firmly fixed on his long term goals. In this case, to maintain good relations with vendors he relied on. It was a lesson I learned and tried to apply over the course of my life.
Obama is a consensus builder. He looks for ways to reconcile opposing factions and build bridges. It's not the way I would do things, but it's his way.
We've all seen the parade of GOP candidates treating Democrats with disdain and contempt, smearing them with insults and lies. And then not having a candidate with the spine to fight back. Politicians want to be liked. But Democrats want to be tolerant and open to other's ideas. Republicans want to express their anger and rage, feeling their superiority is proven by the other guy's willingness to take it. They seem to think intolerance is a virtue. If I were running, I'd be doing my best to destroy McCain, painting him as a caricature somewhere between Bob Dole and Mr. MaGoo. Only not that nice. Of course, I'm not a politician and would never get elected President.
Edit: Let me respond to a few of the comments below before my diary disappears from sight. I wanted to keep the diary narrowly focused on Glenn W. Smith's assertion that Obama was not aggressive enough and that criticing him for that was racist. We all know there is racism in this country. It's plain that many TV pundits have made racist comments, both intended and not. And we know that the McCain Campaign has done everything in it's power to whip up latent racial fears and hostility.
As for the anecdote between Henry and Joe. Telling you that Joe was an "angry black man" was just factual not racist. And if he was white, Henry would have dealt with him the same way. I know, first hand. It's too bad that Henry isn't here today. He died some ten years ago of lung cancer. At his funeral, there were over 1,000 people, black and white, debtors and creditors. All friends.
As for the debates, I completely missed the emotional subtext that independents were using to evaluate the two candidates. My style is much more analytical. In this case, it was nice to be wrong.