i can no longer resist posting about politics

[danschank]

(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

Comments

[mistercreepy]

as you know, this isn't exactly my arena. but i read all of this and the comments as well and enjoyed it.

i agree that this is a step forward in discussion; i just don't know if i'm as sold as you are on the actual change discussion foments? as important as "paradigm shifts," as thomas kuhn might say, are, i don't know if that's the role the president does or necessarily should play.

i'm still sort of the opinion that clinton would make a better president in that i think she would make a better office manager. neither of them would really make a great president. a great leader needs to be both hated and loved from time to time, and i feel like both occupy one side of the spectrum far too much.

i'm scared enough of mccain though, that combined with the near mathematical impossibility of clinton getting the nomination, really makes me want her out of the race. it's too late for her to convince obama to be v.p., and i agree that wes clark should be his.

you move ever closer to tina fey's heart

[danschank]

i just don't know if i'm as sold as you are on the actual change discussion foments?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

ratatouille asides are starting to irk me a little

[mistercreepy]

plus they remind me of all the LJ shit that i feel i should be doing and am not

Re: ratatouille asides are starting to irk me a little

[danschank]

fair enough. but, if we're gonna be specific here... in terms of policy, their senate records are almost exactly identical. seriously-- the differences are really minor. in terms of actual political practice-- as far as i can tell-- it sorta boils down to:

* 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.

[vogdoid]

great post! all I can do is froth & stammer about this.

[danschank]

haha, i read your post devoted to this just prior to ironing out my own. to paint myself in a less optimistic light, i'll say that the reaosn i'm not frothing and stammering about this is that i thought it was SO inevitable. i mean, it's hateful and awful and ridiculous, but i expect nothing less from the official discourse in my country. i feel like if anything kills obama's campaign, it will be this issue (meaning the wright fiasco)... so better to iron it out while we're still in the primaries?

with any luck, this will fade from the public's memory within a month or so, and when the mc cain people try to unearth it again, the obama people can make them appear bigoted for doing so. this is a rare case where the media's awful ADD disorder might work to the better option's advantage? (i hope).

i'm with you on the gay marriage thing also. reluctantly.