Barack Obama is not a Liberal. Liberal has been camping out in the Tribal Area Closet, soon to be joined by Maverick, and will probably not come out in my lifetime. As Mike Malloy says, Obama is a Corporate Democrat. And not only is that the best we can do right now, it is a lot given the rapacious appetite of the Republican Party for power and money. (How did the Rebubs let this happen?? Why weren't they grooming someone, anyone? But that is another story.)
I like Obama less than I want to-- but more than I should.
Conventional wisdom has the candidates running for the center after the primaries, but here we have McCain running to a McCarthy evoking right (Obama conflated with terrorists and socialists, the tax-and-spend refrain which no longer terrifies anyone after 8 years of Bush, a whack job religious zealot as his VP pick) whereas Obama isn't running anywhere. Mr. Obama is Mr. Cool, sitting in the shade sipping a cold one and watching the train wreck, projecting not-mean, not-threatening and not-ready-to-explode to a nervous white population sick of the fear infused twittering of the Republican right.
And he surprises me.
Example, this during a (air quotes) debate (end air quotes):
"The history in Colombia right now is that labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis and there have not been prosecutions."
--Barack Obama, Hofstra presidential debate, October 15, 2008.
I thought out loud -- 'It's about time!"
His FDR-esque vision of the jobs and infrastructure equation in the face of a Republican opposition that views as socialism any non-war non-bail-out-Wall-Street spending makes perfect sense now (as it did back then). And though his health plans are, well, imperfect I think (if I squint and hope real hard) I can see the possibility of an end run around the insurance companies in there.
So. I am not over-wrought ( over-hyphenated, yes) but -- I am apprehensive.
First of all, WE (may I?) HAVE TO WIN THIS ELECTION BY MORE VOTES THAN THE REPUBLICAN MACHINE CAN STEAL. Remember 2000? 2004? Well apparently the Democrats haven't -- or just don't want to address it. So the same vote rigging and count manipulation procedures are still in force -- on steroids. (See Bradblog and keep the valium close.)
Then,we have to get rid of the Republican Fellow Travelers who have spent the last two years oiling the neocon agenda through Congress while stifling any Democratic dissent. Yes, this would be Pelosi and Reid. Pelosi is a joke -- recall her assertion that she would not oppose impeachment if anyone could show her that Bush did anything illegal. This woman is the worst kind of politician and has to go. As for Reid, he only seems to wake up long enough to kiss ass (Lieberman’s will do).
But most of all – So long as there is money to be made, Rove, Cheney et al are not about to fade quietly. And it isn't going to be land deals and a blue dress this time. Keep your eyes open -- if it is far out enough to be called a conspiracy theory, you are probably on the right track. Obama is not going to lay out his game plan on this one. But I hope it is a good one.
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