Drinking Kool-Aid
Published February 22nd, 2008Have you all gone blind? Or insane? That’s one of the questions I keep asking myself this election cycle, because just about nothing I see makes any sense. I can see why the Hillary campaign is frustrated at her losing streak and that Ohio, Texas and Penn are her Alamo. Otherwise, it’s “shaka, when the walls fell“for her.
On the one hand is the insane rejection of McCain by the right. I can see why some might opt out of voting altogether, by the hyperbolic response is nothing short of complete insanity. I have seen both types of rejection - some reject McCain for Clinton (Coulter) and some reject McCain for Obama (so-called moderates and independents). Are you freaking kidding me?
First off, I think Coulter’s stance that Clinton is a better choice than McCain is, if nothing else, finally an admission that Hillary Clinton is not a left-wing wackjob. Nope, she’s far more centrist than that. She’s still left of McCain though, so it makes no damn sense for a conservative to prefer her over McCain. None.
Second, the perception that Obama is “different” in some way, a uniter, an outsider and an agent of hope and change. And somehow he is appealing to the moderate independents (and some Republicans) who seem to think that he is somehow different from Hillary. I’ve got news for all of you - he’s not. He’s just a politician like any other. Besides his stance on the issues (which are even more liberal, in general, then Hillary’s) I don’t see him as any different. And he has never satisfactorily overcome his main initial criticism - that he speaks in generalities and has no specific plans. Hillary really is the more experienced and more ready to lead on Day 1. If you would vote for McCain over Hillary, but vote for Obama over McCain, you are engaging in a logical disconnect. I’d love to hear some reasons for this sort of logic.
I’ve mentioned before why Obama doesn’t impress me as different. The whole Michigan/Florida primary issue was enough to make up my mind. But on top of that, I’ve not heard him say a single thing that wasn’t a politician saying it, nor delve into any specifics on a broad range of issues. If he had done all those things, I’d say he’s an agent of change. But he hasn’t, so I feel he’s not - he’s simply another Democrat, another politician.
I may not be alone in this view, and I’m glad to see it since I was beginning to think I was. Sarah M. Miller, a University of Chicago student, had an open letter to Obama appear last week in the LA Times. In it she asks, nearly begs, Obama to start addressing specific, important issues.
smart progressive people are getting really cynical about the rhetoric of “hope” and “uniting people” when it’s not backed up by substance. And there I have to sympathize with them. Hope is an empty diversion without substantive, original arguments on issues.
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When I express my support for your candidacy, people ask me these questions, and I can’t answer them on your behalf. When I can’t answer, I wonder if I too should be more skeptical of your visionary-but-vague rhetoric.
If you read the letter, she posits a list of issues she wants Obama to address head-on and in depth. But as Callie Miller notes, Obama seems not to have read it or has chosen to ignore it. Well, the letter appeared in the Los Angeles Times, so I would be surprised if someone in the Obama hadn’t read it. But I’m not surprised nothing has been said about it - he’s just a politician like all the others.
Obama is more liberal than Clinton, so if you’re voting for him but would vote for McCain over Clinton - you are either politically inconsistent or voting on pure emotion. If you have some other reason, let me know, I’d be fascinated to hear it.
If you believe Obama is different than any other Democrat, or any other politician, you’ve been drinking too much kool-aid, not been paying attention or are simply swayed by the prospect of an articulate president (I know, it’s been about 7 years). If you really believe that Obama is the American Political Jesus, let me know why, I’d love to hear it.
Remember, way back in the olden times, when McCain was the Washington outsider, the maverick? Just goes to show you, it’s a matter of degrees - but none of them are true political outsiders. Think on that.
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