My fellow Illinoisan? Barack Obama!
That’s right, the Marmaniac endorsement is already in for the 2008 election. And why not? After all it’s only 21 months away.
The readiness of candidates to declare themselves candidates proves that George W will add to his distinguished resume the title of being the lamest duck of all time. Democrats, fresh off their victory in November are chomping at the bit to put their names out there in hopes of carrying forward momentum. Personally, I think this is a bit dumb; Howard Dean should have taught everyone that there is no point in peaking six months before everyone votes, that just give the other pols a target to aim at before Iowans and New Hampshirens go to decide our candidates. That’s how we end up with John Kerry. Gross.
Hilary and Barack, however, have such name recognition (and in the case of Hilary, have been taking shit for so many years,) that they can probably transcend the traditional American pattern of infatuation followed by backlash. So we may actually have ourselves a real primary in ’08, where all elections matter and the majority of voters don’t end up feeling disenfranchised.
Barack is a good liberal; the only policies of his that I do not agree with are his reluctance to free trade and his opposing gay marriage (although he does support civil unions and voted against the constitutional amendment.) But that’s not why I’m voting for him.
I’m voting for Barack because I have realized something that Anand Shah told me six years ago, the President doesn’t really do much. What the President does is act as the face of the United States to its people at home and, almost as importantly, people abroad. The Executive Branch has a lot of sway over policy, and whomever is President certainly will play a role in forming the policy decisions and path of the U.S. for the rest of the decade and beyond. But, as we’ve seen especially in the Bush Administration, this will be decided based on Cabinet appointments that we have no control over.
And as much as I believe it is time for the United States to have a female President, we need Barack. He is the Anti-Bush.
Bush is a representative of entitlement, of our parents’ generation which for all their progress at our age, has left a bad taste in the mouths of many. Our executive should inspire trust, and be an embodiment of America, a representative of all 300 million of us and some shared vision of where we want our country to move. Bush is the embodiment of the upper crust good old boys network that still controls much of this country domestically. Internationally, he is the embodiment of the Ugly American, who doesn’t understand that different parts of the world play by different rules, and doesn’t have the natural ability or patience to try and understand the subtleties and nuances of diplomacy and foreign policy. He is a 20th Century relic.
Obama represents a projection of America in the 21st Century. First, the obvious; his skin-color and name. Of mixed heritage, he represents America’s inevitable drive towards becoming the true melting pot nation. The relative increase of the African-American and Hispanic population, combined with the increase of mixed heritage children will be as much of our future as global warming. Embrace it. Love it (hotter chicks!) Use it to our advantage.
Bush’s greatest failure is the total erosion of American moral superiority gained from fighting fascism and communism. What better way to get it back then by reminding everyone of how America originally became great; as the land of opportunity, as the welcomer of all, as land of freedom. A land that welcomes all types of people from all types of religious and cultural backgrounds. What better representation of those ideals then Barack Obama, a well-spoken, attractive, embodiement of the 21st Century American. Obama has a singular opportunity to do this that Joe Biden or John McCain do not. Obama’s election will feel also skip a generation of politicians of the Pelosi/Reid Era who feel entitled to their turn in power without doing much deserve. As a Young American, I can honestly say he would be the first President who I would trust to be fighting for, and listening to, my needs. I’m not sure if I can say that about other candidates.
A pretty face isn’t all you need for the Presidency. And ObamaNation won’t cure all of the United States’ problems or make everyone who hates America put down their AK and buy a Chevy. But this election is more important then electing a new chief executive. This election is about how we are going to represent ourselves to take on the great challenges of the 21st Century. This election is about how we are going to put behind as a nation the Bush Administration’s fear-mongering and bullying, and rallying to move forward together. This is about re-establishing the United States of America as the country everyone wants to be, not the country everyone wants to go away. And Barack Obama is the man to start us down that road.
# posted by Marmaniac @ 4:57 PM
