I am struck by the two images I'm developing on Barack Obama, two very divergent senses of who he is. The first is formed mostly from his two books. I read "Dreams from my Father," a few weeks ago and it inspired me. Now, I've just started the "Audacity of Hope," and on Page 7. he just hits to the nerve of what I think this country is about when he writes:
"What struck me was just how modest modest people's hopes were, how much of they believed seemed to hold constant across race, region, religion and class. most of them thought that anybody willing to work shoulld be able to find a job that paid a living wage. They figured that people shouldn't have to file for bankruptcy because they are sick. They believed that every child should have a genuinely good education, and ... those same children should be able to go to college even if their parents weren't rich. They wanted to be safe from criminals and from terrorists; they wanted clean air, clean water and time with their kids. And when they go old, they wanted to be able to retire with some dignity and respect."
Now understanding this and being able to state it so simply is not enough to make me vote for him. But it is enough to make me have an audacious hope that he shows me and the rest of the electorate enough in addition so that we can vote for him for president.
But the there's the other side. The one that runs this lame, blog-like thing. It is only one directional. It is designed to get you to give money and to attend his events, where you will be asked to give money. It is designed in the traditional red-white-blue of nearly every American candidate. If you register for more information, as I did, you start getting spammed to give money and attend events where you will be harangued to give money. If you email them to tell them how you feel, you get an auto reply that says they are overwhelmed by the number of emails they are receiving. If you wait a month, as I did, and ask to be removed from the email list, you get the identical "overwhelmed" response.
Overwhelmed is not something I want in a president.
My point is this: If our voters are going to turn to Obama this year, it is because we are tired of the tried and true politicians. We want someone new and different. We want a visionary optimist and his books indicate he is that person. His campaign does not. His campaign is the same combination of pablum and crap that we get from the usual gang of candidates. If we want more of the same as his campaign operatives are giving us, Barack has less history and fewer achievements than at least five other candidates.
That brings us to Hilary. More about her shortly.
