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

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The guy on the TV news has just said that Clinton is in danger of being "swept away by generational change". I don't have a problem with that. The past twenty odd years in American politics have been characterised by savagely divisive factionalism- and Hillary has been at the heart of that- more sinned against then sinning admittedly- but still part of an ugly scene which people are sick of and would like to see changed. In terms of ability she may well be the best of the candidates, but ability isn't what this election is going to be about.

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

ability isn't what this election is going to be about.

One of the more astute observations about this election.

[msjann65.livejournal.com]

So much for being swept away by "generational change". Hillary has taken New Hampshire, and as I type Obama is making his concession speech. Of course there are many more primaries to go, and anything can happen. However, New Hampshire has boosted Hillary's numbers nationwide from probable loser of national election to probable winner. On to Michigan! New Hampshire voters are a majority of Independents, who only declare for a party when they go to the polls for a primary, and who have the right to switch back to Independent for the national election. What is really significant about this primary is that New Hampshire's Independents often lean toward the Republicans, but tonight, Hillary Clinton's 72,000+ votes outnumbered John McCain's 55,000, a significant Democrat victory.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yup, the pundits got it wrong. Which is really rather reassuring.

And good for the democratic process.

This is all set to be a really exciting race.