(no subject)

[malsperanza]

From today's NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/us/politics/23nevada.html?ref=politics), a registered Republican in swing-state Nevada:

“I was a military man, and John McCain has always stood up for the military,” he said. “But Barack Obama is a good man. I voted for Bush twice and was let down in the second term. My godfather is African-American, so I’d like to see a change in the guard, too, to see that the doors are open for everyone. But my wife is a doctor, and an attempt to nationalize health care could affect her pay.”

The talk on his street, Mr. Gray said, is all about the election these days.

“I live on a cul-de-sac, and three of my neighbors are in the Air Force and two are police officers,” he said. “Every Saturday when we mow the lawn we talk about this, and they’re up in the air, too. One neighbor is a vet; he is totally Obama. I don’t know. It’s just exciting.”

It sure is.

For years my family in Illinois kept telling me that Obama was the brightest, most exciting new politican to come down the pike since RFK. In the early years, when he was in the state legislature, they would go all jittery with the praise: His ideas were solid, he was active and committed, he was smarter than any six Nobel laureates, he could get even the toughest grease stains out of carpets. And my family are not easily seduced.

So what has Obama done? He has crossed the race barrier once and for all. (Even if he should lose in November this would be true.) He has outclassed and outmaneuvered the ever-more rapacious, no-holds-barred GOP and exposed the fault lines in that once-impregnable brand.

But what has he really done? He has mobilized youth voters who had fallen into a nearly permanent state of apathetic indifference and scorn for the electoral system. He has brought the conversation relentlessly back to the issues, and away from the crapola. He has made political discourse exciting.

And not a moment too soon. Whatever may happen in future, both parties, and America, owe this man a very big debt of gratitude.

Comments

[black-dog.livejournal.com]

You know, I started out as a Hillary supporter this year, because I thought it was about being more brutal than the Rs. I originally thought Obama was a perfectly acceptable second best, but no more than that. But he has been awesome. Just game-changing. I hardly dared hope he was for real, but it seems that he is. :)