John McCain and Sarah Palin's virulent attacks on Barack Obama's patriotism may be, as the New York Times editorial page is complaining, "appalling," but they should neither come as a surprise nor be cause for much concern. Quite the contrary. They aren't a sign of strength, but weakness. The more the McCain campaign flounders--and it is heading for the biggest GOP defeat since Barry Goldwater lost a landslide election to Barry Goldwater in 1964--the more grotesque and extreme its charges about Obama are likely to become.
It was Obama's appearance in Indianapolis, Indiana today--which has not been won by a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964--that offered the most telling portent of where the election is headed. With the economy tanking and Wall Street continuing to experience massive sell-offs, Obama has now found his voice. His speech in Indianapolis wasn't simply stirring, but magnificent. Obama made the crucial link between his personal odyssey and America's. At a moment when America is facing financial woes that can only be compared to those it faced after the October 1929 crash, Obama, like Franklin D. Roosevelt, offers the promise of a young, vigorous leader who will dispense with the shibboleths and fantasies of a decade that led America into ruinous wars and debt.
In retrospect, the Bush era will be regarded as a bizarre interlude between the Clinton and Obama presidencies. Indeed, Bush, who is earning the dubious distinction of the most ignominious president in American history, out-Hoovering Hoover, will provide fodder for the Democrats to run on for several decades. Mere invocations of his name are likely to produce shudders among Americans, who will castigate him for ruining America's reputation.
Obama is making it clear that he isn't going to issue false promissory notes, as Bush did, but eager to restore the promise of American life. As Palin snipes away, she is only revealing her and McCain's hollowness. They, and their footsoldiers, are the hollow men and women of American political life, a grotesque parody of a conservative movement that has exceeded its sell-by date. If Obama continues on his current path, he will not simply defeat McCain, but crush him.
