The Done Deal

If politics is the art of saying nothing, then Barack Obama is sure blowing it, isn't he?

His latest "gaffe," to proclaim at a private fundraiser in San Francisco (of all places) that small-town Americans are bitter and cling to guns and God in lieu of financial security -- these words purveyed to the American public by way of a scratchy, Osama-quality recording -- triggered such heartfelt hypocrisy from his opponents.

"It is hard to imagine," said John McCain, "someone running for president who is more out of touch with average Americans."

I almost agree with this. Obama is definitely out of touch with something. However, it isn't "average Americans" -- who, it turns out, really are bitter in large numbers -- so much as what I would call "the tacit covenant of presidential politics."

Serious presidential candidates aren't supposed to go there, see. That's what makes them "serious" -- their understanding that American politics is settled, a done deal. The deal is this: While real Republicans can drift, unchecked, to the dark side of empire and neofascism, Democrats are supposed to campaign and govern as moderate, "responsible" Republicans.

We live, in other words, in a corporate state, the basic terms of which are no longer open to debate. The "class struggle" is over. What about this do you not understand, Candidate Obama?

All hail the (invisible) corporate state and its sacred fetishes: God, guns, flag. All hail the cliche that is America, with its hard-working little people who get the job done. All hail the McWorkers of the new economy, who roll up their sleeves and vote for one smiling liar or another on their way to their second job. All hail the dearth of health care, the children left behind, the endless billions for war and most of all the fact that these matters are not -- I repeat, NOT -- open for discussion in this presidential election year or, God willing, the next one or the next.

Well, hmm.

Obama, as a serious presidential candidate, has given plenty of indication along the way that he is indeed in touch with the tacit covenant of presidential politics and has compromised himself accordingly. Skeptical progressives have any number of examples of this they can point to in his record: his voting to renew the PATRIOT Act; his tutelage under and campaign work for out-of-the-closet darksider Joe Lieberman; his support for increasing the size of the U.S. military.

The signals Candidate Obama has sent out are sufficiently mixed that we should certainly temper our Obamamania with a side order of reality. But I nonetheless confess that I find myself among those getting drawn in, warily, to be sure, by the sense of "hope" his campaign is generating. I say this as someone who pretty much thinks hope is for suckers, especially if it's part of a campaign slogan. But here's the thing. We're not going to get anywhere without it.

Those of us who feel shut out of the corporate state, who fear the direction it's headed and the damage it will do, need more than just our anger and our ideological purity. We need an ally in the corridors of power -- more than an ally, really. What we need is an instrument of history, on the order of FDR or Lincoln.

While Obama may certainly turn out to be somewhat less than that, he gives evidence of representing not just change but maybe greatness as well. What's indisputable is that, if elected, he would be the first African-American U.S. president, and this in and of itself is a remarkable sort of change for a country whose roots in racism go deep. He doesn't need to "promise" this, just as Hillary doesn't need to promise us she would be the first female president.

What I'm getting at is that rational hope for political change must be based on something other than campaign promises. We all know how much those are worth. And so just as Obama is unalterably African-American, it may be -- so his predilection for what the media can only call gaffes because they aren't perceptive enough to know the difference between shards of truth and verbal slips on the banana peel -- he is also unalterably . . . on our side.

I know this much. He's not courting the "Reagan Democrats" in the manner of three decades of Democratic candidates, and in the manner of Hillary, by jettisoning the values of his party and trying to lure them back with pathetic Republican-lite verbiage that doesn't fool anyone.

My hope is that Obama continues to stand up to history and speak with impolitic courage -- on race, on economic justice, on war and peace -- where others have tried to wriggle off the hook. My hope is that he challenges the historically left-out and ignored to shed their bitterness and help him undo the done deal of American politics.

- - -

Robert Koehler, an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist, is an editor at Tribune Media Services and nationally syndicated writer. You can respond to this column at [e-mail] or visit his Web site at commonwonders.com.

© 2008 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

Comments

[Hullaballoo]

I was an Edwards supporter and I waffled at first btwn Obama & Clinton. But it was Obama's message of inspiration that really spoke to me. And the youngin's and artists and musicians caught on to that as well. The fact that he spoke what I already knew: that he alone - that no one person alone can change anything. That it's gonna take ALL of us getting involved, and staying involved - and exercising our power as given to US by the Constitution to make sure our representatives do OUR bidding. He demonstrated to me that he gets it. That he would call on all of us to help him - to turn this country around - really spoke to me. It was the call, and the recognition and validation of MY power that I'd been waiting for. And, to me - that is the exact OPPOSITE of a "cult". A cult leader wants you to become a mindless yes-man. To give up your authority and your creativity. Obama is calling us to get out there and organize, to make a difference, to come up with ideas - to work for ourselves and eachother to change this country. That's as far from a mindless cult as you can get. And that idea resonates with me - and all of us working together - that's the only hope we have.

Obama/Peace 08.

[Pieface]

Obama needs to be definitive in his utter belief in the individual American's right to arm himself and defend his family and property.

If he does this, he will be elected.

[Bmum]

My dad and I were emailing this very same discussion this morning. What does it say about our political system when someone is ostracized for being truthful by the very people who claim they demand a truthful candidate? When are we going to stop giving the media the power to influence our every thought and opinion and make our own decisions? I've read the words Obama spoke at the fund raiser and for the life of me I cannot understand how others grab onto the negative spin so easily. This is a man who speaks without first editing himself to pander to every socio-economic voting group. It's refreshing.

[Henry]

I am in full agreement with what you write. It seems that we Americans are like a bunch of children in Disneyland. Mickey Mouse is wonderful and on and on ad naseum.

I believe there is a one-liner to summarize the state of the union and it is this: Where has the gap between uber-rich and the poor gone in the time period of the last administration???

In the world we live, pro athletes have turned into whores who work for Pimps. And this is only one example of what it's all turned into. The media that stages the "show" has bottom line as the purpose. The goals that motivate are no longer the goals you could perceive in the now passe Norman Rockwell America. I know that it will turn out to be mega ugly for Barak as President. The reason is that he does not appear at this point to have the traits of the MIckey Mouse type of whore that qualifies to be President. (and I hope I'm right about that)

[Countess]

Obama must wear a flag pin and pander to the moronic media before we can call him a true american leader. He is too focused in issues that matter and not enough on the waste management side of things like Hillary Clinton.