Hope. Not Faith.

I'm clinging to hope. Not about who's going to win on Tuesday. I am absolutely certain Barack Obama will be the next president-elect of the United States.

Hope, says the dictionary, is about our desires. Faith, on the other hand, is about confidence. I've got tons of the former. And damn near none of the latter. So if Obama offers hope, I'll take what I can get.

When Obama is sworn into office, it will officially mark much more than just the election of America's first black president (a minor miracle in itself). More than one more peaceful transition of power between the parties (something we take all too much for granted). And much more than what is shaping up to be an electoral landslide (a much-deserved comeuppance). Obama's hand on the Bible will jump-start an entire new historical epoch, one that is already under way. We just don't know what it is, or what we will call it, much less what it will bring.

That's where I start to run a little short on faith.

The spectacular, thunderous and humiliating collapse of the McCain-Palin campaign should come as no surprise. At a time when our very livelihoods and those of our children seem to hang in the balance, it should not shock us that we were offered up such sad gimmicks as a tax-evading Joe the Plumber and an almost pre-verbal Caribou Barbie. That the Republican campaign is ending with what Chris Matthews called a "Seinfeld strategy" -- it's all about nothing -- should leave us equally nonplussed.

McCain made no mistakes. He made no strategic fumbles. No more than the U.S. made a "mistake" in Vietnam -- or in invading Iraq. The McCain debacle was but the logical, I would say inevitable, conclusion of a political movement that after three decades of dominance has completely exhausted itself. The policy pantry of the Reagan majority had already been looted and left bare by the time McCain declared his candidacy. The Republicans simply had nothing else to offer other than the bogeymen of race, terrorism and taxes. What possible, plausible policy remedy could Johnny Mac have pulled out of his rear pockets that hadn't already been rather disastrously foisted on the American people since Ronnie Reagan came beaming into office 28 years ago, with a slightly orangish halo overhead?

Indeed, there's a great parallel between this election and that of 1980. The conservative Long March, initiated by Barry Goldwater two decades previous, triumphed precisely because the Democrats of 1980 found themselves in the same fix Republicans do today. Bereft of any fresh ideas. More precisely, bereft of any ideas whatsoever. The stirring promise -- and tangible success -- of FDR's New Deal had stagnated and atrophied into the rather enfeebled candidacies of Carter, Mondale and Dukakis. Can anyone remember any shred of hope that trio inspired?

Enter Reagan and his conservative confederates, who had nothing but ideas, almost all of them toxic. But the Reaganites won fair and square. At least they had something to fill the void left by the shattered New Deal coalition. I have little faith the Democrats have got such a plan as they prepare to sweep into power. Read the rest of this post by clicking here (cross-posted at LAWeekly.com).

Comments

[imnoone]

I hope Cooper is right. Peggy Noonan, a person I despise, confirmed his theory on Morning Joe yesterday. She predicted that the Reagan Era was over. It could be that we are looking at a new decade and maybe new decades of progressive thought and action. I think that McCain could not help himself, he must re-fight the Vietnam War. Obama has stressed that those days are over. There is a new day coming. We do not need to fight old wars. At last, we can face a new century.

[SoutheastReview]

Whoa! More wisdom from the mouths of babes. Unfortunately, what we loosely and imprecisely call 'the right' had both the seriousness of intellectual purpose, and, thanks to the capitalists in need of a credible construct to further their rule, a bankroll to come up with the plethora of ideas that followed from the implosion of Herr Goldwater, lo these many decades past.

One aspect of the program that we need, therefore, is an intellectual uprising. Such as the likes of us certainly have the seriousness of purpose. That thinking requires time and resources should not come as any surprise, but the dearth of moneybags supporters means that the likes of me don't get many invites to sit at the policy table.

Ah, well. That's a shame, since I have more than enough ideas to carry my weight at the feast, so to speak. Perhaps something akin to what we need to put more faith in the future is in the offing. If not, then certainly we'll all remember the words of Jackson Browne in "After the Deluge," "In their hearts, they turned to each other's hearts for refuge, in the troubled years that came before the deluge."

[Karen Dalton-Beninato - Huffpost Blogger]

Well put Marc. I have faith in the people but not the process. Hope tomorrow's process changes that. It's been a great learning experience being off the bus for the past year with you, Amanda and the OTB crew.

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

Great Post! You sum up the major ideological of the past 3 decades quite well. I hope you're correct about the GOP, my hope is that it becomes a largely Southern rump and is blocked from real power for decades to come -- deservedly so.

[Militant Leftist]

Many claim what the Reagan revolution was for conservatism in 1980, the Obama revolution is for liberalism in 2008. I say should that be the case, then the failed conservative experiment of the last 30 years that has brought this country to it's knees was not failure in vain. Strength, wisdom, perseverance, and safety be with you soon-to-be President Elect Obama. This country needs you.

[FOXYLADY]

AAAMEN, AAAMEN, AAMMEENNNN, AAAMEN...M­ILITANT!!

[STILJON]

There is only one message left to scream everywhere. Give one day if it takes that and work for our future by voting for Senator Obama and he will continue to spend every day working for you. The polls mean nothing unless everyone votes. Its up to all of us to stand in line for as long as it takes and VOTE!!! No matter what happens on the east coast early everyone needs to make this a landslide creating a mandate of the people all across the country, so west coast stay in line till you vote. The polls are so wide in large part because of new voters. This is the largest effort ever to bring in new voters so if you dont vote you will permanently prove the belief that first time voters do not go to the polls and ensure your concerns are never pursued or listened to again. Make this time different. You could finally change the landscape of the electorate and force your ideas to be considered, expanding policies beyond the base of both parties. Every single vote counts and we cannot afford to wake up Wednesday and find out democrats lost again by only a few votes, because we thought it would be a blowout. Lets make it a landslide and prove the polls right!! Everyone take a day and change the world!!! VOTE!!!!!!!!

[shadowgm]

The distinction in my book is that faith informs my decisions. Even if you believe in God and the sacrifice of Christ Jesus for our sins, that faith is not an inoculation against hubris or being wrong, which is how it is being used in politics - that school prayer and the words 'under God' in the pledge of allegiance somehow guarantee that you'll be a better person.

My faith tells me this is not so. Believe as you will, translating those beliefs into your daily life and actions requires conscious thought and effort. If it were easy, we'd all be good, kind, loving people.

At the same time, it is possible for people of different faiths to make similar decisions. If my faith shares a respect for life with another, we can both choose to support the same policy or candidate, and neither one of us has to be established as being right or wrong.

And that's where Obama's campaign has given me HOPE. It's going to be a challenge to move away from the destructive politics we've seen for most (if not all) of the past decade. When we say 'bipartisan,' it has to be in a truly cooperative spirit, not "I'm just on this team 'cause coach told me I gotta play with you."

[FOXYLADY]

What a great post Shadow!!! I must admit that during the last 8 years my faith has been sorely tested....­.......why­???.......­..because so many so called born again Christians voted Cowboy Bush into office twice. They fell for his line that he was a good Christian.­..........­not only once but twice. WE NEED A CHANGE....­.......WE NEED TO BELIEVE IN AN HONEST AND COMPASSIONATE AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, INTELLIGENT PRESIDENT.­........AN­D MCCAIN AIN'T HIM!!!

[vigilantwarrior]

I "hope" President Obama prosecutes those responsible for THIS, don't you, Mr. Cooper?

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/confess/

[LewisWalsh]

We can’t count out the radical right just yet. Joe Scarborough this morning November 3, 2008, about 9:45 AM, graduated from MSNBC right-leaning pundit to a sort of Twilight Zone character. Those immigrants who stop him on the streets of Manhattan to express their affection for the US do not come from places that have universal health care, free higher education, guaranteed pensions, worker protections or even enough food or clean drinking water.

For the majority of those poor souls anything would be a step up. Certainly, they are grateful to the US for ignoring the needs of its own citizens while being most accommodating to aliens, both legal and illegal. Before the US can be the utopia that Scarborough described, we must be honest and ready to accept that we are not the best and greatest that the world has to offer. In fact, we rank poorly in very important areas; most advanced countries have had health care for all their citizens for decades and, the US ranks far behind in life expectancy, infant mortality and worker protections.

We cannot improve the lives of our citizens when we have those such as Scarborough attempting to continue the myth that the US is the best in everything. If Scarborough is not an apologist for the right wing, those who have gotten us into our present sorry state, then he has taken that “step beyond” into the Twilight Zone.

[FOXYLADY]

Let's pray that our next president will stand for all you mention...­........bu­t.........­.if elected it won't be on McCains agenda....­..........­....it will be more of the same ole' same ole rhetoric we've heard and had for the past 8 years.

[LewisWalsh]

You may find this of interest, Foxylady:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-smiley/goodbye-cruel-world_b_138755.html?
show_comme­nt_id=1739­4693#comme­nt_1739469­3