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

[rsc.livejournal.com]

I would probably have voted for Edwards if he'd survived. There are aspects of Obama that make me nervous -- I'm not sure how much "there" there really is there -- but the Clintons are and always have been DLC centrists (at least since Bill lost his second run for governor because he came across as too liberal for Arkansas). I will cheerfully, perhaps even enthusiastically, vote for Clinton if she gets the nomination, but overall I think Obama is the better candidate. One of the things that's been striking in the recent debates is how little difference there is between their stated positions on pretty much every issue. Another thing I noticed (and that everybody seems to have noticed) is that they mostly laid off each other last night, despite Wolf Blitzer's efforts to get them to be nasty. I suspect that Clinton noticed that her attacks weren't being received favorably.

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.

It worked for Bill Clinton in 1988.

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

And that even when Bill Clinton's speech was criticized for being overly long.