America At Juncture And Obama Must Do More Than Talk Politics

President Obama. God that sounds weird. I certainly never thought I'd hear the like in my day. I had written that I was deeply worried about Obama's chances of winning against a half-sane white Republican in a general election. Luckily, the Republicans didn't nominate one. They nominated John McCain. He's got apologists blaming his pert near schizotic behavior on the fact that he's running a campaign that goes against his "honor," as if former lobbyist and current campaign advisor Rick Davis planted an obedience chip in his brain, robbing him of free will. It's pathetic. It's hilarious. It's more than a little disturbing.

This debate was a rerun. McCain attacked on Fannie and Freddie and earmarks and Pakistan, blaming all of them on Obama and the democrats, but Obama gave as good as he got and sounded like the bigger man in the process. McCain oozed like an infomercial, Obama spoke like a professional. McCain rambled. His speech on health care made as little sense as Sarah Palin. Wooden repetitions of "my friends," and "that's what Americans do!" "We'll get our economy going again!" or "I know how to do it!" accompanied with a forced smile and a tottering gate did not inspire confidence. The camera is not his friend. His rhetoric is old. His ideas are old. He is old.

Obama seemed more focused this time, and his message of middle class resurrection sounded more clearly. Oddly, swatting at McCain's jibes seemed to enliven him, hinting at a bit of spark beneath that calm veneer.

Moment of unintentional hilarity: A cancer survivor saying, "I was on a nuclear powered ship, and I can tell you it's safe."

Yes. Obama is on a path to win it all. That means it's time to continue cheering the candidate even as we start pushing the future President:

During the Democratic primaries, it was fashionable to belittle Bill Clinton for not having rewritten the political landscape a la Reagan. However, Bill Clinton was a brief jiggle in America's conservative swing. He simply did not have the political wind at his back, and when he tried to go against it (with his healthcare proposals or gays in the military), he got clobbered, probably accelerating America's downslide into total conservative rule.

Obama, on the other hand, will have no such excuse. America is at a crisis point, and change is the political mantra, even for Republicans who don't want any. Obama will be blessed with a public primed for comparatively radical shifts and perhaps (please, please, please) significant congressional majorities.

There is more than a spot of Reagan in this half black/half white man. He's got the relentlessly upbeat American rhetoric down pat, and when he turns on the silver tongue, the masses swoon. He has run an extremely confident, professional and disciplined campaign. It has been equally unspectacular. Events have gusted in his favor (as they did with Reagan), and he's had the political skill not to get in their way.

Obama's primary-era "we are the world" rhetoric about bridging divides and squaring liberal/conservative circles was so much garbage. The Republican campaign has proven it. His opponents impugned his patriotism due to the sound of his name and the color of his skin. Do they still deserve consideration equal to that of his supporters? Is he still set on conciliation, on meeting them halfway? That sounds frightfully like what Democrats have been doing for the past 20 years. It sounds exactly like the presidency for which Obama supporters vilified Bill Clinton.

Obama ran in the primaries as a firebrand; he generated a rich progressive aura, more so than Hillary Clinton next to whom he is more conservative on domestic issues. His general campaign has been absolutely faultless, and equally unexciting. As The First Black Major Party Candidate, maybe he had no choice. However, for the longer term, at this critical American juncture, it's not enough.

Which Obama will take office? The primary Obama with an unmistakably progressive mien, presenting as one unafraid to fundamentally shift the nation's course... or the calculatedly establishment figure of the general election?

Now that the second debate has passed, the landscape has not changed. McCain has soiled his pants and the fat lady's doing scales. One of the questions of the moment becomes, "Will Obama rise to the challenge and steer this country on a course where health care is, in fact a right; where the rich do not rule the rest; where dollars do not equal voices; where wars are neither invisible nor irrelevant to those of us not wearing uniforms? Or will he just be The First Black President?"

Comments

[Glenn1441]

Brilliant post. I think many of us are posing the same questions.

What most interests me is the idea of conciliation and consensus. Should we indeed be fortunate enough to have a filibuster-proof Congress, then the campaign promises have as good a landscape for success as one could wish for (notwithstanding funding). And keeping a muzzle on Republican ire is, well, the right thing to do.

[ElSidd]

The difficulty Obama faces will not be policy, or change. It will be the expectations. If he dosent solve every single problem this world has and clean up the mess left over by all of the past presidents, there will be some person screaming and yelling that he was all talk, and using it as some sort of justification against other future black candidates. We get it.

Can we at least give the man an honest chance before we begin with this stuff? Remember, we elected Bush twice.

Which Obama will take office?....... Really?
TWICE we elected Bush. As if once wasn't good enough. As if he didn't stand up and show who he was on the first lap.

.....More than talk politics?

EVERYONE IS TALKING. Thats what happens in elections, candidates talk, politicians talk. And now Obama is critisized for........ talking??? Really?

That's all the candidates can do now.

Remember...... Bush....... Twice.

Lets give Obama a chance.

[kd11]

McCain voted for the 700 billion bailout package and demands strict oversight on the bill.
McCains insurance plan includes removing state boundaries when offering health insurance.
McCain wants to spend 300 billion to buy up mortgages.
McCain wants to continue fighting the war in Iraq.

Yet he wants to reduce government.

[LewDan]

I support Sen. Obama because he has earned my respect and trust. Sen. Obama has made policy decisions already that disappointed me on more than one occasion. But I object to politics as a team sport. I'm not interested in beating the other side. I actually want a politician who will represent me. I have no problem with my representative compromising, if its needed to close the deal. I don't have to get everything, just my fair share.

I will even support my representative choosing option I disagree with. Because I believe my representative is smarter than I am and has more facts than I do. That's WHY I want him to represent me. Sen. Obama has shown genuine honesty and integrity. Not absolute honesty and integrity, he's only human and we all make mistakes, but genuine honesty and integrity. So I am willing to follow his lead, work with him, allow him to represent my interests for me. I believe restoring trust at home and abroad is the no. 1 challenge facing America. Iraq, FISA, Justice Dept., signing statements..., nearly all of our problems result form untrustworthy leaders.

Ours is a representative government. Policies are tactics. Our representative are our strategists. We must return to demanding and EXPECTING representation from our elected officials. If we do it isn't specific policies that matter, Its intelligence, integrity, and honesty.

[americanideal]

Um, yeah....

Your generalizations are the same ones that annoy and frustrate us coming from the Right. I am a product of a GOP upbringing, and I have voted Republican in every election since I was eligible to vote.

This campaign, and Barack Obama in particular, has highlighted for me areas where I do not fundamentally agree with today's "GOP" (quotations to symbolize how far askew the party establishment has dragged the party in my opinion). I am not alone. In fact, if you look at the suden bulge in lead for Obama, it is because the past few weeks have turned many, many voters LIKE ME into confirmed Democratic voters this time - NOT because the hard left "suddenly" came around. Those votes were in after the convention, if not before.

I am opposed to tax cuts at all costs, especially in time of war and deficits. But I do NOT support endless government programs and spending for every good cause, especially if government mismanages the programs. I am for ending the war in Iraq yesterday, but I am not in favor of destabilizing and underfunding the military as was done in the Clinton era. I am very much FOR Obama's view on available/­affordable healthcare for ALL, but I am not in favor of crippling the private market and motivation to spur on better treatments and services in the name of another massive entitlement program.

[americanideal]

(continued)

Obama is reaching out to, and speaking clearly, to me. And the millions of others like me who are finaly listening. Your suggestion that we duplicate the hard line ideological tactics of the past 20 years just because "our guy" is calling the shots, is a certain way to ensure Obama's movement is no more successful in repairing what divides us, and that we remain a nation divided - with much promise and no momentum.

[biglover]

I applaud your decision to vote for Obama for president. However, you made a statement that Clinton underfunded the Military. By whose standards? Clinton left Bush with a very good military in tact and ready to go. That will hardly be said about the Military Obama will inherit from Bush & Co.

We need to

[lvdragonlady]

I read alot and I check comments also. A lot of people want Obama to say more or do more but you must remember he is still running for the office and I am sure there is 'that' invisible line that he can not cross until he is elected.
If he came out with too much of this or too much of that, then some clown somewhere would say that he is stepping over this line or that line because he has not won the election. Or he is acting like he has already won and election day is still 'x' days away.....
I am sure there is lots more he would like to let the people know about but that will just have to wait until after Nov 4th and with a landslide so there can be no doubt or no revisiting of 2004 and the decision of a bunch of conservative judges that favor the GOP.