It's about believing in Barack.
When it comes to forgetting that, I'm as guilty as they come. Guilty of twisting myself into something more "anti-Hillary" than "pro-Obama." Guilty of letting righteous indignation cloud the big picture. Most of all -- I'm guilty of forgetting what drew me to the "skinny kid with a funny name" in the first place.
The past Sunday reminded me.
Like most of the world, I became aware of Barack Obama through "the speech." I remember feeling so excited that night -- feeling the first faint glimmer of hope that we might actually claw our way out of the partisan sinkhole we'd fallen into (and remain in). It was the same excitement I'd felt when I stuck a Clinton/Gore pin on my backpack in '92 -- before I was old enough to vote (funny how things change, huh?).
Yes, he was inspiring, but there was nothing "Messianic" about him -- he was just offering good old-fashioned common sense. A reminder that the same stars and stripes fly on the front porches of Louisville and Los Angeles. That when a building falls in New York City, tears fall in Birmingham. That we're all in this together, and woe is the American who forgets it.
Four years later, I'd forgotten it. After supporting Hillary early on (call it pragmatism, call it brand loyalty), things, well... changed. I became disenfranchised. Disappointed. Disgusted. Hillary's implosion of inevitability became my must-rant topic at social gatherings. I was so angry that I started writing about how angry I was. It got so bad that every time I saw Hillary's face on the view screen of Wolf Blitzer's starship, I had the urge to spear my TV with a curtain rod.
But as the inimitable Powers Boothe once said to C. Thomas Howell in Red Dawn, "all that hate's gonna burn you up, kid."
Powers was right. I'd grown so incensed that I'd forgotten that feeling. That excitement. That hopefulness that we could tip the political scales -- even just a little -- from lesser evils to greater goods. Over the weekend, as I worked on a draft of another anti-Hillary rant ("Cinco de Lie-O," and it'll never see the light of day) I was overcome with exhaustion. I just didn't want to write about her anymore. I was tired of being "against." I wanted to be "for." All that hate was burning me up.
That was my state of mind when I sat down to watch Barack on Sunday's Meet the Press. In that hour, I remembered why I like the skinny kid with a funny name.
I watched him admit mistakes. Speak candidly about his campaign's troubles and stand his ground on the gas tax gimmick. I watched him speak about Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan without resorting to rhetoric, and defend his patriotism without attacking his detractors. He was poised, positive, and dare I say -- presidential.
I remembered that I believe in Barack.
This is not me singing "kumbaya" around the campfire. My opinion of Hillary isn't likely to change, and I'll continue to criticize her until she finally lets go of that snow globe and mutters "Rosebud." (I will, however, try and criticize her with a touch less vitriol -- but no promises).
And in the unlikely event that she secures the nomination? I'll blog from the mountaintops to get her elected. I won't feel good about it, because I don't believe in Hillary. But I won't cut off my nose to spite my country.
I believe in Barack. Maybe you don't.
But I don't hate you for it.
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Now I hate her. Democrats aren't supposed to speak ill of other Democrats. She was too far behind after Ohio to "credibly" win the nomination
Dragging out this race only hurts the Democratic frontrunne
Even if her quixotic campaign managed to get her the nomination
Unfortunat
I appreciate the message of this article because it is a reminder for me that from the very first time I heard Barack Obama speak on Cspan... I wanted him to be our president. He wasn't even in the race at the time but I went to my computer and I wrote him and email and asked him to run. I am a 44 yr old white, single mother, business owner in Colorado, raised in Indiana. I knew because I saw his honesty, wisdom, and integrity.
Thanks for reminding me of the bright shining light of my hope for a beautiful, healthy country led by people of integrity in service of it's people and the world community.
LOLOL... are you sure about that?
If you don't think our worst candidate (whoever you believe that to be) is better than John McCain, you haven't been paying attention.
She's a morph.... re-fabrica
Hillary is without core, substance, or continuity
It's very much represente
There is no "there" there to vote for.
I'd be casting a vote for an apparition
What do we call a candidate who promises harmful and ineffectiv
If I can hate Rove and Machiavell
She's a Neo-Con in sheeps clothing..
I will go to my grave without ever casting a Republican vote... but with this current Democratic battle, I will be on the correct side of history... and will "not" be counted among the many who will settle for a Neo-Con-Hi
I can stay home. I won't be counted hypocritic
It hit me really funny.
As for Hillary... anyone who casually pronounces that they will kill an entire country of civilians to get to a minority of ruling class has some serious self-impor
"Self-impo
It's about not placing myself in the position of hypocrisy.
McCain, whatever his policies, whatever his beliefs - at least has some small grain of integrity. Hilary has establishe
I don't hate her, but I cannot vote for 4 more years of 'the ends justify the means' politics, even though I seek many of the same ends.
Actually Hate is a strong word, how about substituti
I would vote for the devil himself to stop Clinton or McCain from getting in the whitehouse
Please do not get me wrong, I like Obama on a surface level he seems like a bright, well meaning, well educated profession
The problem is that I do not know Obama enough to get past the artfully constructe
Obama comes across as having been carefully built by an excellent team of profession
I would like to know who built him, and what they have in mind. I am not naive.
With Hillary, who she is oozes out from underneath and it is that which I loathe, abhore and detest. Same as Bush.
With McCain I like the guy but his positions are bought and paid for, and they will destroy us.
So to sum it up I loathe, detest, and abhore Hillary. McCain is a trainwreck waiting to happen. And Obama looks to good to be true, like the ghost of Jimmy Stewart. But I see no choice but go with the devil I don't know and hope he is really the same as the image I am voting for.
I doubt that the ghost of Jimmy Stewart would be allowed to run for office today. In Jimmy's day that America was being carved up and sold to the highest bidder.
Hate isn't too strong a word, sometimes I think it isn't a strong enough word. Or maybe it is just so over-used. Like " I hate brussel sprouts". I need a stronger word than hate for my feelings about the Clintons and their war against the democratic party.
After being caught in so many lies, how can you tell when Hillary's telling the TRUTH?
How do you know if she's gonna keep her campaign promises if she somehow steals the nomination and gets elected?
We've had 8 years of a lying pResident and it hasn't worked out too well.
Well, holleyc, the truth about anyone is that a poisonous spirit can lie, cheat and steal to meet needs and wants. But a truely good and decent human being always finds it impossible to pretend to be a liar, a cheat and a thief.
Hillary Clinton is very good at pretending