I have drunk the Kool-Aid

[topaz]

Sorry, it's another political post.  Feel free to skip it.

Earlier this month I wrote that I would be okay with pretty much any of the Democratic candidates as the party nominee.  But it turns out that's not really the case.  I'm in Obama's camp now, and I find that every day I want more to see him win.

I remember when Obama gave the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.  The next day a lot of people had commented that he'd just kicked off his campaign for the 2008 presidency.  I never did see that speech but I remember being surprised by how widely agreed everyone was on this point.  Obama was unquestionably the big star of the convention that year.

All last year I watched his campaign build up but I didn't pay very close attention.  keyne asked me who I thought I'd be voting for, and I told her I wasn't sure but I thought maybe Obama.  She asked me why.

"I'm not sure," I said frankly.  "I just like him."

I felt silly saying it even at the time.  It's the worst kind of reason to vote for someone for president.  But, dammit, I did just like him, even if I couldn't put my finger on why.

In the last couple of months it's become clearer to me why.  Obama's campaign has emerged from being a dark horse to a very serious contender, and it has brought out the worst in the next front-runner.  Clinton's campaign has responded with an absolutely appalling under-the-table attack.  I'm sorry: I wanted to like Hillary in this election, I really did, but I can't.  Since Iowa her entire campaign strategy has been shamefully divisive, from trying to exploit Black-Latino cultural tension to the completely inexcusable attempt to grab Michigan's and Florida's delegates back (after the party agreed not to seat them at the convention).  It has been nothing short of outrageous.

What I find so remarkable is that despite the increased acrimony of the campaign, Obama has not responded by counterattacking.  His message throughout his campaign has been about the extraordinary things that we could do, as a people, if we can do them together.  And even as the primary fight gets down and dirty, that continues to be his strategy.

And it's working.  The Gallup polls show Clinton's national support continuing to erode and Obama's continuing to rise.  People are rejecting the scorched-earth strategy that Clinton has brought to the table in favor of Obama.

That is what really floors me.  It's not just that Obama has a message of unity that's nice to hear.  It's that he appears to be someone who can actually make it happen.  There are a lot of things that we're doing wrong in this country, and I do believe that Obama's policies would represent a real step forward.  But not only that, I think he may be able to help bring the country together at a time when we have perhaps never been more partisan and fractured.

Here's an example.  Just one.  His name is Rod Dreher.  Dreher is a conservative columnist for the Dallas Morning News.  The day after South Carolina, he wrote this on his blog:

Look, I don't want a man who believes the things Barack Obama believes to be president. But I've got to confess, he makes me proud of my country. When's the last time you heard from a politician that made you proud of your country? (January 27, 2008)

And this from a conservative Republican, folks!  An honest to god conservative!

Dreher's comment is only one of hundreds that I've seen from all over the country.  Obama gives me hope again.  He's bringing people together.  I've seen my community unite around him like never before.  I've never voted for a Democrat in my life but I'm going to vote for him.  People are saying this over and over and over again.

I'm one of those people.  I have never seen a candidate like this and I don't think I ever expected to.  Hearing him speak, and reading how people feel about him, reminds me of what my parents used to say about Allard Lowenstein when they worked on his campaign in the 1970s.

I think that we are on the verge of, god help me, a transformative moment in American politics.  I think that we have an opportunity to make something truly extraordinary happen.  I hope you'll help me by voting for Barack Obama.

(But if you don't, don't worry, I'll still love you anyway. :-)

Comments

[dbang.livejournal.com]

I like Obama.

But I'm feeling a little gunshy. He reminds me a lot of Deval Patrick, in his feel-good unity message and reject-politics-as-usual image.

I liked Deval Patrick enough to put some serious hours into his campaign.

And yet I've been underwhelmed by him as governor. I'm not ready to say I made a mistake -- perhaps great things are yet to come. I'll be patient. But I'm also a little cranky about it.

So like a lover seduced by a sweet tongue and then casually tossed aside, I'm holding back my adoration of the next sweet talkin' gentleman.

[beowabbit]

Well, I sure feel glad Patrick is in office, and not Kerry Healey. Obama won’t be the transcendent messiah his rhetoric makes us hope for either. The question in my mind is whether he would be a better president than Clinton (or McCain or Romney or Huckabee, which is an easy choice). And I think he would. (Mind you, I think she’d be a pretty good president too, despite the campaign nastiness.)

[dbang.livejournal.com]

I'm not comparing Patrick to Healy, but to his competitors in the primary, namely Gabrieli and whatshisface the state attorney. There's no way to know that either of them would have been better, but if you pick someone based on promises that then don't materialize it's hard to know if you picked wisely.

And there's no point in looking backwards except insofar as it guides future decisions like, say, which dem nominee to support for pres.

I too have been underwhelmed by Hillary's campaign but I'm not convinced that the quality of a campaign gives you any clue about the quality of someone's actual role in the office.