Three words; Be they “Yes we can” or the resounding chant of “We want change!” sum up the mood and the sometimes exaggerated adoration of Barrack Hussein Obama. He is greeted onto the stage not as a politician, but as a rock star, not as a relic of the 90’s like Senator Clinton but a cult figure engaging in the arena of politics unprecedented since the reverend Martin Luther King Jr. or JFK or RFK. The screams are of “we want change” are whilst utterly sentimental are not always rationalized. Change from what? On policy Clinton and Obama are not that far apart. The Clinton machine, and rightly so is seen as a political dynasty of the 90’s; a pre-historic relic of a confrontational decade where the divisive nature of the baby boomers was bright into the public arena from the most divisive of generations; Clinton v Gingrich, Moore v O‘Reilly, White-water, and ultimately impeachment. As Obama puts it in his best seller book the audacity of hope, “I somehow felt as if I were watching the psychodrama of the baby boom generation. A tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses years ago - played out on the national stage”
Here in lies the key to Obama success. Many of America’s youth see this as the defining moment in their short lived lives. The passing of the torch from one generation (the baby boomers) to another (Generation X) The washing away of the detritus of the past 8 years and starting the 21st century fresh with a new age politician. Whilst its easy to get caught up in the emotional rollercoaster of all this it is important to remember however the Clinton machine is still very powerful and is betting on Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania to fire her back into the lead with renewed momentum. Something is changing in America however conservatives riled by the selection of Jon McCain are starting to be inspired by Obama. People are beginning to not vote with their wallets or even their brains, which surely tell them to vote in the far more experienced Clinton, but with their hearts. Conservatives as well as liberals are attracted to this guy maybe just as a protest vote but maybe they do actually believe. It is careful to not however that even if Obama were to win a sweep if he made it to November it would not be a huge Liberal mandate for America, but a reconciliation rather; To heal the wound of the 90’s and the 00’s. To engage as Obama puts it in the “politics of hope and unity not fear and division… Brick by Brick, Block by Block, Calloused hand by Calloused hand.”
He will need a lot of luck and the cynics still believe that Clinton will ultimately overhaul Obama but until March 4 when the delegate rich states of Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania vote. When asked can Obama go the distance, When asked if America is ready to pass the torch, When asked if they are ready to accept that their history is written by them not for them the answer, the same as always is the three immortal words “whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights.”
Yes We Can.
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