The Other Side
seagull wrote a thoughtful and relevant essay about the election and state of US politics. Please follow the above link to read it; I’m omitting it here for Dashboard brevity. I have a response which may be itself lengthy:
My parents could be counted among those people who are neither excited by promises of “change” (they’ve lived through many years of twisted political promises on all levels, from dog catcher to pope), willing to give up more tax money for the idle entitled, or are particularly outraged by the preferred social policies of the conservative base (as they are old Roman Catholic Italians, and not gay pregnant teenagers). Add in the fact that my dad served in the Army during Vietnam, and McCain suddenly looks like the perfect choice.
I can’t convince them that Obama is not full of hot air. As a matter of fact, I once thought that myself. I certainly agree with them that the Democratic party is full of terrible, misguided legislators and governmental ideas. This is the same party as Fernando Ferrer, Sharpe James, and Jim Florio (to name a couple of local examples). To put it simply, their execution sucks, having been horsewhipped now for a good fourteen years by a bunch of old, obviously corrupt, bigoted men.
So. Anyway.
We have an old problem with a new urgency that people aren’t used to. It has nothing to do with the Republicans, their basic party philosophy or their tendencies toward fascism. Our problems are due to, in part, if not entirely, the state of the economy and our global energy policy. None of this is new. We’re talking about a 40-year problem here, stretching onward. It is tragic for a country with our wealth of resources, both mental and physical, to get bogged down so badly like this.
Both parties are actually at fault for letting it happen (and we are ALL at fault for letting things slip like this). It’s just that the Democratic voters figured out sooner to get behind someone progressive, someone willing to be a bit more cerebral about leadership and heavily depart from misdirection, double-talk, cronyism, rah-rah patriotism, etc. (Don’t give any credit to the party leaders! They were for Hillary until they were against her!) The Republican base has been polled ahead of time, and it looks like they’re not too hot about being progressive. They are well convinced that the old way of doing things serves their interests best. (all things considered, they’re incorrect about this) That’s either a tactical mistake for their political interests, or a fatal mistake for all of us if they elect their candidate.
Actually, let me correct that: the US will not fall apart if McCain is elected. Bush was inept about a lot of things and we’re still here. (Well, except for you, half of New Orleans. Sorry.) Obama will almost certainly be similarly inept about something if elected. (see: Kennedy, Bay of Pigs) McCain’s worst mistake in office could very well be taking a bigger bite of a pretzel like his predecessor, with a poorer result for his health, putting Miss Congeniality as the leader of the free world.
That said, if McCain does win, the call for leadership must continue regardless. And Obama’s mission, regardless of the office he holds, must also continue. Sort of like what Gore did after 2000 (Oscar, Nobel, etc.), but more of that. A lot more of that. It’ll just be easier to keep everyone onboard if Obama wins this time around. And eventually, I’m sure my parents won’t hate him too much for it.
