i can no longer resist posting about politics
(this entire post is kind of a re-tread of a conversation in olamina's comment threads...)
the optimistic narrative of the 2008 election, i suppose, has been about "moving past" race and gender. the official dialogue has been an awkward attempt at cultural invisibility, with the clinton and obama campaigns both trying to appear as un-controversial as ( Read more... )
the optimistic narrative of the 2008 election, i suppose, has been about "moving past" race and gender. the official dialogue has been an awkward attempt at cultural invisibility, with the clinton and obama campaigns both trying to appear as un-controversial as ( Read more... )
i'm not necessarily sold either. i just see a window of opportunity here, and a rare morsel of optimism. let's put it this way-- i think that obama sets a high standard in that speech, and it gives the country the opportunity to hold him, and everyone else up to it. which is rare.
honestly, i think the office manager mentality of the democrats is what's kept them from the white house. the cautious, centrist, takin'-care-of-business model-- this was the stuff that ruined kerry and gore, imo. beyond that, i believe the president is more of a symbol than anything. i don't think (obviously, and i'm not implying that you do either) that one person really stands atop the country in the way the narrative is pitched to us (CORPORATIONS occupy that role, muhahahahah!). and i think if obama has any sense (and it seems like he does), he'll be sure to surround himself with as many over-qualified old heads as he can muster. also-- and i realize the dude is no economic populist-- he's not as tied to special interests as clinton is. which doesn't mean he WON'T be-- because he probably will-- but i think his "youth" and "inexperience" affords him a certain distance from the usual string-pullers.
plus, clinton's campaign has been so infuriatingly below the belt. that "it's 3am in the white house" ad was really some hot garbage. some of her more passive aggressive stuff has made my blood boil in a way that might make voting for her real difficult for me, if it comes to that.
(also, on a more reuben-centric tip, i think ratatouille is sort of emblematic of the kind of open-ness i'm talking about in the above regarding obama and huckabee...)
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i debated whether or not to elaborate on my "office manager" statement and decided against it. i thought what i said after implied that i don't think that's what the president actually is but a part of what the role is. i guess that was a bad assumption.
when i say she'd make a better president, i definitely don't mean she makes a better presidential candidate. anyone can see that she doesn't. and while winning the white house might be the most important thing after 8 years of bush, her or obama's ability to do so doesn't really determine either's ability to occupy the office itself. so the fact that it ruined gore and kerry, even if i agree with you, isn't really important to me (especially as i've already voted).
as much as i'm against voting for the "lesser of evils," i'm even more against voting for campaigns over people. you can't ever separate the two, and hers says something about her character, but i trust her policy more. and for now, i'm sticking to that idea. that when i vote for politician, i'm voting for a policy line, and that i think that's the way it should work.
so when i say i'm not sold on discussion fomenting actual change, i'm talking specifically about this situation. by writing what you wrote, you are saying that you are sold on it. that while you might not think it's the most important thing, it's important enough to make you want to vote for Obama or at least be impressed with him. all i'm saying is even though i agree that he's done this, i personally don't think that would sway my vote one way or the other if i hadn't already.
if your tina fey comment is in reference to her "weekend update" bit, i just wanted to say that SNL lampoons whoever is on top always and forever. back in november, they were dogging clinton and championing barack. one can't ever be sure with a tv personality whether or not the opinions that they express are really at all in line with them personally. but i will definitely take fey's love if she is willing to have me.
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* clinton has the more pragmatic, thought-out plan for universal health care.
* obama is willing to meet with foreign adversaries, and clinton isn't.
clearly clinton is the one with more experience in major political affairs, so i can see how that would affect her ability to occupy the office, like you've said. but that's not important to me, for reasons discussed above.
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