Obama

[poliphilo]

I suspect- being very cold and rational about it- that Hillary is the better bet- the one with the experience and the background and the policies- but it's hard not to find Obama exciting. He 's smart, impassioned, unspun, untainted- and he makes people feel good about themselves. When was the last time American politics threw up a candidate like this? Bill Clinton? No, not really. I reckon you have to go back as far as Bobby Kennedy.

We've been through a really dreary, depressing time and here, suddenly- appearing out of nowhere like Joan of Arc-  is this brilliant young man- and he's drawing crowds like no politician in recent history has been able to draw them- not just of the faithful but of the unaligned and traditionally antagonistic.   He may not go all the way- and if he does he'll disappoint us- but every society needs these "bliss was it in that dawn to be alive" moments. They're not about substance but about hope and the revival of national myth. America had become old and brutish- the country of Dick Cheyney and Donald Rumsfeld- and that's how not she likes to think of herself. (It's not how her traditional allies like to think of her either.) Thanks to Obama in the last couple of weeks we've caught a glimpse of a better, rootsier America- energetic, pioneering, idealistic and- above all else- young.

Comments

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

Here's the thing about our "Presidents" - the smart ones surround themselves with experts, so that they don't have to be an expert on everything.

Frankly, we need more not-so-much-politicians in office. The career politicians are all corrupt to some degree, and it's just one of the reasons our country is going into the toilet.

That's not to say that Clinton would be a horrible President - far from it. Just that really, we need less politicians and more people who really want to make a difference (and no matter what garbage they are spouting, most politicians want to keep the status quo).

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

"the smart ones surround themselves with experts, so that they don't have to be an expert on everything."

This has been George Bush's tactic. I don't think it's worked all that well.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I'd have to disagree with that - Bush surrounded himself with corrupt cronies who have proven time and again they have no clue what they're doing.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

God knows I'm reluctant to be put in the position of defending The Shrublet, but the people he has surrounded himself with were people who had, for the most part, prior experience in those jobs. The corrupt cronies were political appointees--not in the inner circle.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The American president is also a national figurehead- a symbolic figure- and the last person who really filled that role adequately was Ronald Reagan.