Barack Obama is like that high school romance we all remember. He was the hot, mysterious stranger who transferred in junior year, and you wanted to be the one to take him to the prom. He had that brooding charisma, and inspired you with his poetry and dreams of social justice. Then there was the guy who wanted to take you to the prom. He was your brother's friend, and was very nice, and very smart, but wore khakis and a button-down to school everyday. He set up the school recycling program, and arranged to have the aluminum refund money used to pay for the prom.
Being with Beautiful Stranger felt amazing. He was so cool and worldly, and he was a vegetarian. He even had a Save the Whales sticker on his guitar case. He talked about his vision for the future, world peace and freedom, and you saw it too. You imagined yourselves joining the Peace Corp, going vegan, fighting the Man and living happily ever after.
But then the romance wore a bit thin. His idealism started sounding a tad preachy, and he could get snippy when someone challenged him. And the Man was a little less of an enemy when you realized he was subsidizing your student loans for college. By the time you started packing for school, you were over him. Because that is what happens with that kind of crush ... you grow up and move on.
Beautiful words and soulful eyes are great, but they don't actually get anything done. Button-Down may not have been as snazzy, and he didn't write poetry, but he accomplished real things in the real world. When the sheen wore off of the Superhero who talked a big game, Button-Down was still there, doing the little things that actually improved your life; waiting patiently for you to grow out of your So-Called-Crush and recognize the value of genuine experience and commitment.
That is what Hillary brings to the table. She is not as charismatic as Obama. (Her speechwriters have yet to appreciate the importance of vision.) But if you take the time to listen to what she says, there is a real plan for what she wants to do for our country. I believe that Hillary once had the idealism of Obama. But she has been in Washington too long to pretend that sweeping cultural change comes from inside the Beltway. Because, guess what kids ... that is the hard truth of our political system. Washington can only respond to cultural shifts, it can't initiate them.
If inspiring rhetoric could be counted on to map out real change in the way our country is governed, perhaps we would have really gotten the "compassionate conservatism" we were so effectively sold eight years ago. But as the world has learned under the Bush Administration, talk is cheap.
We are wired to be turned on by inspiring words and visionary images. It's why we all swooned over Jordan Catelano, while Brian Krakow got lost in the shadows. We loved Jordan because he was the embodiment of all of our fantasies. And therein lies the problem. It wasn't real. Jordan wasn't actually the embodiment of anything. What we saw, when we looked into his sad, lovely eyes, were our own projected fantasies. And when the realization hit, and the fantasies faded, Brian Krakow was right there, waiting. In his mis-buttoned cardigan, frustrated because he knew that he was better for you than Jordan could ever be. Hurt that you couldn't see how much he cared, and knowing that inevitably the romantic idealism would fade, and it would break your heart. But he would be there to pick up the pieces, soothe your pain and help you find your way into your so-called adulthood.
Because that is what we are now ... adults (so-called, or otherwise). And as scary as that may sound, the scarier reality is that the responsibility for choosing who will lead this country out of the quagmire lies squarely on our shoulders. This is too important a moment to allow ourselves to be blinded by our romance with Barack Obama. Hillary may be inwardly seething with frustration, knowing that she is better for us than Obama could ever be; hurt that we can't see how much she cares, and knowing that inevitably the romance will fade, and it will break our hearts. But she is still there, waiting, willing to pick up the pieces of our broken society, and to do the quiet, painstaking work of putting it back together.
After eight years of leadership "from the gut", it is time to make a choice with our brains. We cannot afford to choose a leader just because he makes us feel good. Because one way or another, that feeling will fade. And it will be more than our hearts that will get broken. Idealism is a valuable tool on the campaign trail, but it takes cold, hard, pragmatism to make the government actually work for the people. Hillary may not be the ideal candidate, but she is the ideal leader for our country in these complicated, frightening times. She's not new, or terribly exciting, but she is real and she is ready. We may not swoon over her, but when we think about it, we know ... she is the one for us.