Viva Revolution!

I'm talking about a 21st Century American Revolution that we are witnessing with our own eyes. It is the electricity that is burning through our air and the fresh words and ideas that are spilling into our ears. It is freedom itself we're beginning to smell again and a chance for a new beginning we've truly never had. Americans have been starving, and a healing future is tempting us to the table for an essential feast.

The notion that Americans can come together -- people of every generation and color -- to rebuild our country is a tonic that Barack Obama is offering us. The image of the United States again standing tall in the world after the last seven years we've suffered is a magnificent relief. This revolution that has burst open in the baby days of 2008 is the opposite of The Civil War. This is the Civilizing War to make us one and whole again. It is a revolution of hope and faith that Senator Obama has inspired by his belief in himself and in us. It is a fire that is sweeping through our land and leaping across oceans to light up the peoples of other nations to give them hope and confidence in us again.

It is the first real chance in several generations -- since JFK's presidency and the revolutions of the 60's and 70's -- for Americans to sense the power behind such social and cultural movements and to feel the magnetic pull to participate. My God, this is good! It is injecting energy that will continue to push us forward light years ahead of where we have been in the Dark Ages of George Bush. As a middle child and natural born rebel as well as a child of the 70's, I am thrilled by this. I believe it strengthens our people and country. It will tide us over until the next revolution is needed.

I first felt this gigantic shift on the night of the Iowa caucuses. Watching Obama and his supporters gave me goose bumps, while the Clintons seemed passé and stale. Of course, Obama's win gave his campaign a tremendous lift and proved what I suspect he and his true believers knew the whole time: He has the vision. He has what it takes to cross the imaginary lines his critics try to mark in his and our sand. More than that, at that crucial point for his campaign, he showed the country and world that he could defeat the massive Clinton Old Guard -- even while they threw their machine's atomic arsenal at him. What was becoming clear to voters was that Obama was their man. He could even co-opt a cache of Republican voters and beat the GOP candidate in November, when Hillary and the Clinton baggage would be stuck in their own mud.

In the middle of October, I'd felt that we were already in or were going to be part of a revolution of a different sort. I'd mentioned this to a Wall Street Journal journalist who was visiting Paris. That if people didn't wake up to the fact that if Hillary was chosen as the Democratic presidential candidate, the Republican contender -- whoever it was -- would make quick work of her and, voila, we would be in for more of the Republican agenda that has been strapped on our backs since 9/11. I had been afraid that the revolution that would be a sign of our times was going to be the slow and excruciating digging out of the massive assault that hit us after the Twin Towers were attacked, the one that came from our own president and his unethical administration -- which sank this country into an abyss of fear and quickly dispensed with American democratic values. The one that meant that our country went from being a beacon to the world to the one our enemies want the world to think of us -- that we are a white racist imperialist nation, which doesn't deserve its respect. I was afraid the revolution we were going to be immersed in was going to be about learning the lessons of humility and struggle on an even deeper scale, before the light would come again.

Instead, during the past week I read Caroline Kennedy's moving letter that knighted Senator Obama with her father's legacy. The next day I watched as Ted Kennedy delivered his brilliant speech extolling Obama's experience, spirit, and character (and in fact, most dutifully and beautifully slammed the door on the knocking Clintons) and crowned this glimmering presidential candidate as the Kennedy prince. I was blown away. The Clintons must have been hissing and calling in every marker they ever had. (To the critics of the Kennedy blessing: Who are you to impugn them in any way? This was Caroline's father. It was her right. It was her mantle to give. Your sour grapes about Hillary, at the least, are colored green with envy.)

One of the most compelling stories I've been told about the power of Obama's bringing Americans together comes from a man I met in Paris:

My wife and I have seven children and twelve grandchildren. Of the seven children, six are married. Number of voters: 16, including our oldest grandchild. We represent the full the political spectrum: a non-voter, a greener, a couple of independents, and the rest are split pretty evenly between Democrats and Republicans. (One of the Republican couples is fundamentalist and home-schools their seven children!) My wife and I have always voted Democratic. In 1992 and 1996, we voted for Bill Clinton, but we couldn't discuss politics with half our family because they were adamantly anti-Clinton. We faithfully supported Al Gore in 2000, but again, discussing politics with half our family was off-limits because of the Clinton legacy... Dean brought us out of our political shell -- he's the first political candidate who got us active and "out on the streets." ...Half our family thought we were nuts, but we had some really good discussions with our Republican faction. At least we were talking again! We held our noses and voted for Kerry, but our hearts weren't in it. And now there's Obama. Oh, my. We're having really positive discussions with our entire family -- even with the fundamentalists. And there's been a sea change. Two of our Republican couples have declared for Obama. One of our Republican sons has even gone so far as to register as a DEMOCRAT so that he can vote for Obama in his state's Democratic Party primary. This is the sort of shift in thinking that Barack represents. If our family is remotely representative - and short of a ton of Republican dirty tricks - Barack should win the general election in a landslide because his appeal to Independents and, if I can coin a phrase, "Obama Republicans" is so strong. But that'll happen only if Obama wins the nomination. All our crossover voters have declared that they'll NEVER vote for Hillary. And we're not sure that we can, either.

Democrats must learn to connect to their base again, and this is a lesson John Edwards has been teaching us. Al Gore has taught us that doing the right thing brings lasting results. The younger generations have taught us the power of the new media. These are all important revolutionary tools.

A friend recently said to me, "I have this horrible feeling that once again the Dems will snatch defeat out of the hands of victory..." Our Democratic Congress is still practicing this every day. Another friend commented, "It is so sad that they (the Clintons) are sacrificing their reputations on this campaign..." There was more to that point, but you get the drift.

The good news is this: It is as if the ghost of Paul Revere climbed onto his horse in order to shout this news to the American conscious and unconscious, "Obama is coming! Obama is coming! Get ready for change, because it and he are already here."

Follow Beth Arnold on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BethArnold

Comments

[jgmurphy]

II must respectfully disagree.

Hillary is definitely the most qualified and most intelligent candidate in the race. Plus, she is the more experienced campaigner, a fact which should not be discounted. People keep blathering about her "baggage," but the GOP has been carting out the same b.s. to throw at her for 30 years! She is well prepared for the attacks they will launch because she has heard it all before---and defeated it all before. Twice as First lady and twice in her own Senate races.

With Obama....he is fresh out of the box! Who can tell what skeletons are in his closet that the GOP can dig up? Believe me, if we go with Obama I have no doubt we will be looking at another Republican president for at least 4 years! Are you ready to risk that? If Barack goes up against someone like McCain, who has been campaigning since the Stone Age, I guarantee you he will be eaten alive.

I like Obama too, but the fact is the man has NEVER run a national campaign. With an unpopular war raging, a crumbling infrastructure, deteriorating relations with foreign nations and a tide of red ink consuming the economy, now is not the time for an amateur hour.

It will be Hillary, or it will be another Republican. Sad but true.

[serena1313]

I think Edwards would make a dynamite Attorney General. He has got the moxie and temerity to clean up the mess that Bush and Rove and Cheney will leave behind. It is a job he can excel in. And it is almost as powerful a position as President.

Obama is the best candidate we've seen in a long time. He inspires people. He has the fire that brings us together like no one else. I realized that about two years ago. The more I read about him the better I liked him.

Moreover his record shows he believes justice is a strength and the rule of law matters, accountability and transparency are vital components for a healthy democracy. Legislation and bills he's written and/or co-sponsored are proof he is a man of his word. "Actions speak louder than words." He earned my trust based on his actions, not just his words.

Sound judgment, reasoned logic, intelligence tempered with forethought and foresight reflect the qualities of a leader. Obama has all that and more.

[vbond]

Revolution?

Democrat Caroline Kennedy (daughter of JFK) AND Republican Susan Eisenhower (granddaughter of IKE) have endorsed Obama.

Kennedy:

"I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."

Eisenhower:

"It is in [the] great tradition of crossover voters that I support Barack Obama's candidacy for president. If the Democratic Party chooses Obama as its candidate, this lifelong Republican will work to get him elected and encourage him to seek strategic solutions to meet America's greatest challenges. To be successful, our president will need bipartisan help."

"Revolution": "things turning around."

Exactly.

[longislandlol]

Amen-- you've hit a home run and a touchdown with this awesome article... My 4 sons and voting -aged grandchildren took me over the finish line to vote for Obama... let the young lead... this election will take on biblical proportions...

[lovethesinner]

"Change doesn't happen from the top down, it' happens from the bottom up." -Barack Obama

Thanks for a great read Beth. I'm feelin' it too.

[lovethesinner]

Beth, I'm already a fan, but this post is especially wonderful. It conveys the feeling I'm holding, waiting to burst. I read that man's story about his family and realized that's exactly how I feel. This is something I haven't felt since I was ten years old, watching John F. Kennedy on TV. My father wanted Nixon, and I just didn't get it. Couldn't he see that the other guy had "it"? (My mother could tell, but I think she was hiding it, sort of.)

It feels like a CIVICS-RIGHTS movement. It's like we've all been enslaved by apathy, cynacism, fear... so long that we just gave up.

It feels like the beginning of a new era of civic participation. Obama has made us all realize that what kept us back wasn't that we had the wrong ideas, or that we didn't have the right sales pitch... it's that we expected it to just happen without our participation.

"Change doesn't happen from the top down, it happens from the bottom up."

It's like that story about the guy who spent years in jail, thinking he could never get out, and one day he goes over, puts his hand on the door knob, the door opens and he's free. He was only imprisioned by the DOUBT OF HIS FREEDOM.

We stand here now, looking back at our cell knowing that the only reason we're not still on the other side of the door is that we had the audacity of hope.

Obama in '08

[lpeacock]

If you want a Revolution, vote for Edwards. He´s still on the ballot in every State I know of.

[realitytrumpsbull]

'offering us a tonic'...you mean snake oil salesman? They used to tar and feather those guys and run em out of town for fraud. Bush was selling his own 15w40 'tonic water', too, and oh, boy, are we ever still paying for it.

How about a 'no bullshit' candidate, not pandidate, not a salesman, not a confidence man, not a Guy Smiley, but a bona-fide, "I'm going to D.C., and this is what I intend to do, if you support it, please vote for me" straight talker who picks no favorites, pulls no punches, and whose first stop is the Senate floor for That Conversation about the budget.
Unless all parties involved bring their 'game face' to the problem of trillions in unpayable debt, it will remain unresolved through the next administration, and so on thereafter.
I think they should pass the Buckle Down Act,
and calculate their expected reciepts, standardize the tax code so that all parties pay a minimum from income or dividends, regardless of income source, if you don't have any income, well then you don't have to pay taxes, do you. But, for those that do have income, there should be a plan, and a reasonable expectation to be had on the part of people paying those taxes that the crack pipe in Washington has been CONFISCATED. Sober, reasoned fiscal policy, nothing more, nothing less, with final figures and relevant facts available for public review in plain-text unembellished english. I don't think they have that, right now. Hopefully if Obama wins, he can help all those people to kind of 'see the light', there. If jacking up military spending to astronomical levels is the only thing keeping the government open for business, there's a spending problem that needs to be addressed and successfully resolved.

[strangelet]

"(To the critics of the Kennedy blessing: Who are you to impugn them in any way? This was Caroline's father. It was her right. It was her mantle to give. Your sour grapes about Hillary, at the least, are colored green with envy.)"

What a bizzare comment. Who am I to "impugn" them? I am a sixty-year-old United States citizen, and I have exactly the same right to my opinions about Caroline's and Ted's endorsements as they have to make them. Despite your rather lofty "Kennedy prince" rhetoric, we still don't have a de jure aristocracy over here in the States, and Caroline can only dispense metaphorical knighthoods.

Now, as it happens, I've admired Ted Kennedy for thirty years, and I'm quite happy with what I've seen of Barack Obama, and -- in any event -- I will vote for the Democratic nominee in the general election, as I have always done.

But if I happen to feel that Ted's endorsement was partly motivated by "dueling dynasty" issues, or that Caroline's -- while beautiful and eloquent -- was, after all, just the endorsement of a private citizen, then I'm allowed to feel that way. I'm certainly not going to change those opinions because of your metaphysical revolutionary goosebumps.

All the best.

[AnninCA]

I think people with "goose" bumps are the real story of Obama.

AMerican Idol...

[Spookcatcher]

Where have all these "inspired" Americans for change been while many of us have been putting ourselves at risk trying to get the information out on the Bush Administration, IMPEACHMENT, and investigations and convictions made a reality? The American Public are unequivicably the most lame and naieve people on earth. While enjoying lifestyles, money, material toys, and cars, educational opportunities at various schools and learning institutions, and years of liberties most other Nations have long envied, now they are inspired with the generic notion of the word change being presented on the election stage. From my reading on history, apathy and agnosticism turned into partying and cheerleading doesn't do anything to stop Fascism and Tyranny.

[letsmakesense]

You are right.
We need a revolution.
If Obama is what you think he is then we are in good shape.
But with the media how it is these days.....
What if you are wrong?
Have you checked his record?
Have you compared his record to the record of Ron Paul?

[PaulLoeb]

I'm interviewing lots of Republicans who are now supporting Obama and even volunteering--he opens up a possibilty of hope at the point when they are finally disillusioned with Bushism.

Paul Loeb
author Soul of a Citizen
www.paulloeb.org

[apresdeluge]

Yeah right. I can see the Republicans lined up to vote for Obama based on his support for giving illegal aliens driver's licenses; his
Ted Kennedy endorsement ans his MoveOn.org endorsement. Sounds like the campaign of "vision" and "hope" has turned into the campaign of hallucination and mass hysteria.

[Rachiavelli]

It's lovely, isn't it?

My Republican mom and Independent boyfriend are voting for Obama. I have never been this excited about politics!