The only thing Barack Obama has going for him these days is us. You and me.
As I mentioned, we saw him yesterday, and he looked tired. 15 months of nonstop campaigning. I really feel for the guy. He’s trying to take on The System. But The System is a well-tuned machine that’s been honed and tested and tweaked for maximum efficiency. It’s tuned in to exploit people’s most primal nature, using fear and mudslinging and doubt.
John McCain offers a hack fix (a temporary gas tax break) that sounds great to everyone but accomplishes nothing, then turns on Obama because Obama doesn’t support it – he’s after bigger fish – and then McCain makes claims that Obama doesn’t support poor people. We’ve heard this type of Orwellian language (aka lies) for 8 years now. AND IT STICKS. Maybe not entirely, but it’s there, in the back of Joe America’s subconscious, rolling around. The machine works.
The current Newsweek cover has a picture of arugula on the left and beer on the right, with the words “Obama’s Bubba Gap” in between. More Orwellian bullshit. With 3am phone calls and Pastor Wright and lapel pins and bubba gaps saturating the primary information streams we receive in our living rooms, the signal is almost impossible to discern from the noise. But it’s there. Listen up, you’ll hear it too.
George F. Will provided a mostly-thoughtful set of questions from the conservative perspective in his article in the current Newsweek. The sarcasm sneaks in, as well as the distortion by using several quotes from Obama’s wife, but generally, he’s trying to stay on the issues. To sum up, the questions for Obama centered on the economy, taxes and corporate interests. Poor fiscal conservatives, they seem to have no one representing their interests these days. The closest was Bill Clinton and his balanced budget. The furthest is George “can’t add” Bush. Cross-reference George Will’s questions with Obama’s objectives, and Obama’s answers include ending the war in Iraq (where all our money is currently going), investment in research and development, moving further towards energy independence, simplifying the tax code (while keeping it progressive), and focusing on keeping jobs in America and increasing exports. Sign me up.
I still believe in “us”. We can do it, with a little effort. Dare to dig in and climb the mountain of hope. It’s the toughest job you may ever have, but it’s the only way out of the valley of corruption in which we’re currently mired. Peace.
