Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Anti-Climactic? Not to me.

Do you feel the energy of this historic moment, when the first black candidate claims the nomination of a major party in a presidential election?

Or are you feeling blasè, because you've been hearing the predictions for months now? Here's what Slate's Today's Papers said this morning:
The papers all assure us this is a historic moment, but if
you're feeling like it's all rather anticlimactic, don't worry, because you're not alone. "That's the thing about today's prediction-driven media culture," writes the Post's Howard Kurtz. "If a thousand pundits declare that Hillary is toast, then by the time she is charred around the edges it hardly seems like news." There's been so much talk about Obama's delegate lead that when he finally claimed the nomination yesterday, the news seemed to be greeted with yawns. "We're not even limping," a media analyst said, "we're just dragging across the finish line, and everyone says, 'Oh, okay, whatever.' It feels redundant."

That is a hilarious line from Howard Kurtz about Hillary being charred around the edges--but I, for one, am not a bit indifferent or bored with this moment.

Maybe I'm naive in my expectations; perhaps I'll click back to this post in two or three years and feel embarrassed about my optimism. Maybe I'll come to regret it, like I did in the second half of the Clinton presidency. But it feels good to be behind a candidate because I actually think he'll be good for our country.

It's been a long time since I've voted for a candidate in a presidential election for a more optimistic reason than "he's the lesser of two evils." Know what I mean?

But now the question is, can Obama beat McCain? Put your preferences aside for a moment. What's your prediction for the outcome of the general election in November? Can an Obama ticket defeat a McCain ticket? Would the VP choice possibly change your mind about this?

I put up a poll to the right. Be a pal, and take a moment to vote, won't you?

2 comments:

KMR said...

When I responded to the poll, then looked at the results so far, I thought "Hey, I'm in one of the two biggest groups". Then I looked and saw that only 8 had responded so far. Oh well...

Obama has me VERY excited about the coming election. And very scared, too. I feel there is going to be so much s**t spread by the McCain supporters (if not by himself--but don't count that out by any means). If Obama doesn't win in November, I have very, very, very big concerns about the future of this country (not to mention the world); it would make me very depressed about being an American citizen, instead of proud (which I always used to be ).

Unknown said...

My feeling is, no matter who sits in the Oval Office, we still have the best form of government going. Far, far from perfect, but it's better than most alternatives, and better executed than most of other republics.

Thank you for voting in the Obama poll! And thank you for your Green Room support and participation. You're a doll.