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OBAMA IS LOVE
Mar. 18th, 2008 11:39 amNo, I’m not in Thailand yet. My plane doesn’t leave until this afternoon. But I’m having a Obama Zen moment that should probably be entered into the public record.
Yesterday, my economic-conservative/social-liberal boss, who endorses Obama, announced, “Dammit, the more I see Obama, the less I like him!”
Which I found amusing. I mean, Obama IS running for President. Between his natural lust for power, the media’s love of taking every fault you have and magnifying it by a gazillion, and the tendency of people to naturally assume that candidates endorse anything their nutty campaign staffers, spouses or church pastors say on or off the record, every candidate loses his/her shine sooner or later.
Still, the Obama Lovefest is one of the most interesting things about the race. Lots of people really respond to his message, however insubstantial it might be. When yr nation is bogged down in two wars, a flagging economy and a steady diet of fear from both its enemies and its leaders, hope sells. It’s marketing 101: find a market that’s not being served, and give it what it wants.
But of course it’s not as simple as that. So what is it?
Bill Kristol thinks he knows. He rejects the Generation Obama theory in favor of the 9/11 Generation theory, which makes no sense to me no matter how many times I read it, and anyway, he only wrote it as an excuse to declare Obama a fraud.
A more interesting theory comes from Andrew Sullivan, who wrote a really really long piece back in December about Obama’s appeal – and this was before he started winning primaries. Sullivan’s idea is that Obama is the first prominent candidate to emerge from outside the Baby Boomer bracket.
Why does this matter? Because American politics from the 60s up to now has been defined by the Baby Boomer generation, which polarized itself over Vietnam. The hardcore sociopolitical divide we’ve seen ever since is basically the same Vietnam-era politics being fought over again and again. Obama, coming from outside that sociopolitical framework, is able to speak to all the other Americans of his generation who have a fresher perspective, and can also reach Baby Boomers sick and tired of fighting the same fight.
Is it true? Shit, who knows, Jim? Maybe Obama has access to secret hypnoray technology to brainwash people into voting for him. Or maybe he really is what he appears to be – a charismatic politician who’s tapped into something that the other candidates can’t see or comprehend. Or maybe the breakdown’s even simpler:
McCain/Hillary: Old and busted.
Obama: The new hotness
We’ll see. In the meantime, I think we can all agree on two things:
1. If Obama is elected, he’ll fuck up like everyone else. Which doesn’t make him any less qualified.
2. Whatever the Truth might be, Bill Kristol has no idea what it is.
Talkin’ ‘bout my generation,
This is dF, and I approve this message
Yesterday, my economic-conservative/social-liberal boss, who endorses Obama, announced, “Dammit, the more I see Obama, the less I like him!”
Which I found amusing. I mean, Obama IS running for President. Between his natural lust for power, the media’s love of taking every fault you have and magnifying it by a gazillion, and the tendency of people to naturally assume that candidates endorse anything their nutty campaign staffers, spouses or church pastors say on or off the record, every candidate loses his/her shine sooner or later.
Still, the Obama Lovefest is one of the most interesting things about the race. Lots of people really respond to his message, however insubstantial it might be. When yr nation is bogged down in two wars, a flagging economy and a steady diet of fear from both its enemies and its leaders, hope sells. It’s marketing 101: find a market that’s not being served, and give it what it wants.
But of course it’s not as simple as that. So what is it?
Bill Kristol thinks he knows. He rejects the Generation Obama theory in favor of the 9/11 Generation theory, which makes no sense to me no matter how many times I read it, and anyway, he only wrote it as an excuse to declare Obama a fraud.
A more interesting theory comes from Andrew Sullivan, who wrote a really really long piece back in December about Obama’s appeal – and this was before he started winning primaries. Sullivan’s idea is that Obama is the first prominent candidate to emerge from outside the Baby Boomer bracket.
Why does this matter? Because American politics from the 60s up to now has been defined by the Baby Boomer generation, which polarized itself over Vietnam. The hardcore sociopolitical divide we’ve seen ever since is basically the same Vietnam-era politics being fought over again and again. Obama, coming from outside that sociopolitical framework, is able to speak to all the other Americans of his generation who have a fresher perspective, and can also reach Baby Boomers sick and tired of fighting the same fight.
Is it true? Shit, who knows, Jim? Maybe Obama has access to secret hypnoray technology to brainwash people into voting for him. Or maybe he really is what he appears to be – a charismatic politician who’s tapped into something that the other candidates can’t see or comprehend. Or maybe the breakdown’s even simpler:
McCain/Hillary: Old and busted.
Obama: The new hotness
We’ll see. In the meantime, I think we can all agree on two things:
1. If Obama is elected, he’ll fuck up like everyone else. Which doesn’t make him any less qualified.
2. Whatever the Truth might be, Bill Kristol has no idea what it is.
Talkin’ ‘bout my generation,
This is dF, and I approve this message
