The Serious Side of '08
This will never be a full-time political blog, but I'm sure 2008 will see more posts on the subject. I mostly refuse to partake in the excruciating two-year slog that leads up to presidential elections in this country. Isn't an excruciating year enough?
That said, I find it increasingly impossible that I'll be able to support any major-party candidate other than Barack Obama. Whether he's doing the goofy pop-culture stuff (like dancing with Ellen) that Bill Clinton made a codified part of the process when he played the sax on Arsenio and answered questions about his underwear on MTV, or he's seriously addressing an opponent's tactics, there remains something deeply intelligent, dignified, and relatively unscripted about him. These days, that's almost enough in and of itself. Or at least, I hope it's almost enough. As Joe Klein recently wrote, "(Obama) assumes a maturity in his audiences, and in the press, that simply may not exist."
There are a ton of concrete issues in play during this election cycle, but I still think the largest one might simply be the public tenor of the country. Giuliani and Hillary Clinton are politicians as cartoon characters, divisive not only for their legacies and opinions, but because of how they animatronically address their bases.
Obama seems to me like the only viable candidate who might save us from watching our politics slide even further into petty disgrace.
(Links and Klein quote from an Obama supporter with a far larger readership, Andrew Sullivan)
That said, I find it increasingly impossible that I'll be able to support any major-party candidate other than Barack Obama. Whether he's doing the goofy pop-culture stuff (like dancing with Ellen) that Bill Clinton made a codified part of the process when he played the sax on Arsenio and answered questions about his underwear on MTV, or he's seriously addressing an opponent's tactics, there remains something deeply intelligent, dignified, and relatively unscripted about him. These days, that's almost enough in and of itself. Or at least, I hope it's almost enough. As Joe Klein recently wrote, "(Obama) assumes a maturity in his audiences, and in the press, that simply may not exist."
There are a ton of concrete issues in play during this election cycle, but I still think the largest one might simply be the public tenor of the country. Giuliani and Hillary Clinton are politicians as cartoon characters, divisive not only for their legacies and opinions, but because of how they animatronically address their bases.
Obama seems to me like the only viable candidate who might save us from watching our politics slide even further into petty disgrace.
(Links and Klein quote from an Obama supporter with a far larger readership, Andrew Sullivan)
posted by JMW at 12:43 PM
2 Comments:
I have to agree wholeheartedly with your post. Although I am (still barely) a Republican and will vote (reluctantly) for whoever they nominate, I can't understand why so many democrats support Hillary over Obama. Even more bizarre is the surprisingly widespread sentiment in the black community that not voting for Obama is a way of offering him support, since, if he becomes president, he is likely to be assassinated. I can only hope and pray that Sam Nunn comes out of retirement to run a 3rd party campaign.
Edwards? He's been offering up some great rhetoric and interesting plans (spending money to educate people around the world, for one).
Post a Comment
<< Home