PolitiPorn™

After Tuesday’s speech, my Obama man-crush has now reached epic proportions.  O.K., it’s out there.  I’m biased and I’m secretly, no I’m now publicly rooting for Obama to win the nomination and ultimately the presidency.  I could not say the same thing a year ago.

One year ago I was hoping against hope that somehow Bill Richardson could snatch the nomination from the Hillary.  To me Richardson embodies a level-headed approach to liberalism and besides I don’t think he’s that scary to Rush’s Ditto-Heads.  My hopes for Richardson were not informed nor acquainted with the senator from Illinois.

Ever since Iowa, I have been in Barack’s back pocket.  My hopefulness for the future has had peaks and valleys that have coincided with his fortunes on the campaign trail.

What a country this would be if we could point to Barack Hussein Obama and say that he is our president.  More than 40 years ago Dr. King proclaimed that he had a dream.  Is not Barack Obama’s ascension to the presidency, the dream made real?  I think so.

After acquainting myself with Obama’s story, I find that I am drawn to the commonality between me and this great man.  Just like me, he was raised by a loving and doting grandmother.  No doubt, Barack, just like me, had to sit and listen to his grandmother tell stories of the Great Depression and the food rationing of WWII.  Perhaps his grandmother, like mine, as a child bore witness to one of the many parades held in Charles Lindbergh’s honor.  I’m certain, that Barack’s grandmother, like mine, told him of the sadness their generation felt at the passing of one of the greatest Presidents, FDR.

There is something about being raised by a grandparent that is special.  As you approach your teen years the generational gap starts to rear its ugly head.  Before that though you get an appreciation of history as something that was lived in and not just some exam question or Jeopardy answer.

Despite the Harvard pedigree, Mr. Obama’s narrative is somewhat common.  It certainly resonates with me.  Granted, I’m a white dude, but I had the fortune of growing up in a neighborhood that was majority black.  I was a minority to some extent.  This experience shaped me and played a role in my life that I’ve never discounted.  

The hope presented by a potential Obama presidency is audacious.  Could this spell the end of the gotcha politics?  To Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity’s chagrin, could an Obama White House encourage cross-party discourse that fashions solutions from the middle ground?  I really hope so.  In fact I pray that it is.

Our country needs healing.  It is hard to find one aspect of our country that is not somehow depressed.  Healthcare, education, the War on Terrorism, our standing in the world, our dollar, the deficit, Social Security, our military, the economy, these things all need healing.  I think that Barack Obama is just what the doctor ordered. 

We need to come together on the things that divide us.  For instance, there has to be a solution to the war in Iraq that we can all agree on.  Any liberal must realize that we can’t just withdraw from Iraq overnight.  Likewise, any conservative must be cognizant of the fact that we can’t stay in Iraq in perpetuity.  So where is the middle ground?

Our healthcare system is in shambles.  Too many people in this country face the prospect of going bankrupt in order to receive medical attention.  Our Bill of Rights guarantees the right to bear arms, the right to free speech, and the right to an attorney.  It doesn’t however, provide a guaranty of healthcare.  That’s correct, you do not have a right to doctor if your sick, but if you’re arrested you have a right to an attorney.  Without your health, who cares about bearing one’s arms or speaking freely?

The GOP will tell you that “Socialized” medicine doesn’t work.  Whereas the Democratic Party will say that Private Healthcare ISN’T working.  Where is the middle ground?  For it is in the middle ground where the solution lies. 

Obama by my measure is an extraordinary individual but his extra ordinary ability is bringing folks together.  The solutions we fashion as a united citizenry will work and we know it.

Besides Obama, you must ask yourself this question, “will either Hillary or McCain unite this country?”  Don’t kid yourself, the answer is no.  A Hillary presidency will just be a replay of the 90’s.  One scandal after another and a political machine so distracted by the scandals that nothing gets done. Lest we forget that her husband’s distraction cost this country dearly and arguably led to us dropping the ball with Osama bin Laden.

With McCain, we can basically just put the country on cruise control.  Nothing will change, my friends.  I doubt there would be any reason to hire a new cabinet or White House staff.  McCain has no solutions for any of the problems facing this country.  All that McCain has is his own steadfast support for the failed policies of the current administration.

Folks, we need change and not just little drips and drops of it either.  The changes need to be radical and need to shake up this country just a bit.  Our influence in the world is eroding and will continue to do so if we do not change course.  That’s the decision we face in November and in the Democratic Primaries.  Stasis is death, pure and simple.  Me, I want to live, so bring on change.