Heart Hath Clouded the Mind

Please bear with the fairly long post, I know it's not blog-reader friendly but politics means a lot to me and this is a big moment for our political process. Hopefully my fellow bloggers will let this lie up here until after the voting on Tuesday night...


My state, California, holds their Democratic and Republican Presidential Primaries tomorrow and up until now I have tried to follow the race through the eye of an educated observer, someone who did their studies in this field, but at this point I don't think I'm able to be an even somewhat objective observer. I want Barack Obama to win this motherfucking election so badly I hate myself that i haven't done more to volunteer, donate or help in any way, now all I can do is Hope, but that in itself is not such a bad thing given the tenor and message of his campaign. This article and this video have nearly brought me to tears lately. This is a president for my generation, it's not John Kerry talking about my Dad's war appearing with Bruce Springsteen at rallies, this is a guy with a unique background reaching out and appealing to voters, young, middle-aged and old with a believable message of unity and cooperation.

I remember either late in high school or early in my years at Whitman I was doing some writing, either writing a poem or just journaling and musing that as someone who has always loved US history, my generation and the one before it, Gen X, or whatever you want to call it haven't had a defining political leader like FDR or JFK like my parents and grandparents had, someone to truly lead the nation, bring out our best and inspire HOPE. I truly believe Obama can be this kind of person. He has showed a remarkable ability to stay positive on the campaign trail even while taking a brutal beating at the hands of Clinton and the Republicans while not being above fighting back (Kerry) and clearing his name and the record. I don't think Obama is perfect or will be by any means, but no one is, and no one will be. I also don't think Obama and Clinton have truly different records or differ much on the issues so in this case, even an educated voter who doesn't go on "pop" appeal can afford to make a decision on style and when you hear about how Obama has inspired so many different people to take a look and get interested in the race and by default how our country runs and when you hear the man deliver a soaring speech laced with stentorian tones like a booming Baptist minister you cannot help but feel numb, tingly and moved. Not to degrade Clinton at all, but for all her policy smarts and political skills, she does not inspire like Obama and that is a quality not to be overlooked in a president. George W. Bush's faltering oratory, stone age values, stubborness and messianic conviction of bloodlust has been one of the least inspiring things to live through for the last 7 years and this is not just coming out now because his presidency is winding down, ask anyone who's known me, the man has never been a favorite.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a great opportunity for millions of Americans to vote and change the rhythm of Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton that our country, which fought a war of independence to topple monarchy, has fallen into. I also think it is no small thing that Obama is not only a black man, but a man of mixed race, born in Hawaii to a white woman and a black man from Kenya, and raised in Indonesia with his paternal grandmother's family still calling a farm in Kenya home. This is more a reflection of the American dream than the oil-rich, prep schooled, Saudi loving Bush clan or the wife of a former President (who granted has a great personal tale of HIS own) riding coattails and money trails to the White House. We live in a diverse, multi- and mixed- racial society AND world and who better than a guy like Barack Obama to reconnect America to a world that laughs at our actions and our arrogance.

Just as I remember writing about a JFK for my generation I remember the feeling sitting in a dorm room in D.C. three year and a half years ago and watching John Kerry, a candidate who did not move me in the same way, but offered a brighter future, get picked apart by straight political gaming and lose the election to Bush in the midst of an unpopular war and ghastly social initiatives. I was broken that night and fearful for the future of the country. Now things haven't been as bad as they could have been, a Democratic congressional takeover in '06 hasn't brought about the change many voted for, but it has somewhat slowed the beating of the drums of war
and dulled the knife cutting programs for the needy and lining the pockets of the rich and powerful.

Once again, not that Obama is the best, not that any of us can predict what he will do in office, but why not take a chance, why not stop being afraid, why not stop hedging bets and playing it safe.

That's what I'm hoping for.