11:37 a.m. - 2008-02-22
here we go!
So, I'm getting increasingly excited about Barack Obama. If that's possible. I have been excited about him and inspired by him and the real possibility for change for years now. It was exciting when he was standing up there with half a dozen other candidates and it's even more exciting now that he is the front runner with just one more candidate to knock out. In the past, I've never bought into a candidate like this. I've always felt like anyone I liked for a while...Al Gore, Howard Dean, John Edwards the first time around, just didn't have enough oomph to get over the finish line and I knew if I really got behind thm I'd be disappointed. With Obama, I have just always known there was something real to believe in there. Something that wasn't going to fizzle, but rather was going to grow stronger.
I am so excited to have been a "believer" since way before it really seemed possible. (Isn't there some little dirty pleasure in liking something before the masses that makes one feel deliciously, inappropriately superior? Like being able to say you saw U2 in the really early 80s or something...it's a similar feeling to getting made fun of in 9th grade when I wore Birkenstocks and everyone called them Jesus sandals and then two years later, they were all wearing the ugly things.)
I'm not feeling particularly smug or anything, just so you know - there is little real pleasure to be gained from an "I told you so" demeanor. That's dumb. I'm just really happy - I'm really excited. I think this could be such a turning point for our country. In the movie Love, Actually, Billy Bob Thorton entertainingly portrays the American president as a tough-talking, womanizing, rude cowboy - kind of a mix of Bill Clinton and Dubbya. What an interesting mix of qualities Barack Obama would bring to the long line of White House inhabitants. I wonder how SNL will portray him.
While some argue that the president can't actually change very much on his own - I disagree for two reasons. One is that I realy believe that Bush's 1. decisions (Iraq, NCLB) and 2. his attitude and beliefs and demeanor have kind of cast an air of defeat and depression over our entire nation. I think both of these things are important - decisions and demeanor. Inspiration moves people. Depression paralyzes us.
It's certainly not over yet - Hilary could come back for an upset - and if she does, I will figure out how to get behind her despite deep disappointment. But it's looking good for Obama. And I'm super excited.
