Portland, Oregon, yesterday:
Here's the thing: Obama is a politician with a good game plan. Part of that game plan is his charismatic personality, and the appeal to whites of electing the first African-American president in history. If you've ever attended one of his appearances, his biggest applause line isn't about ending the war, or fixing the economy, or raising the image of America around the world. The thing that gets people to leap to their feet is when he points out how all kinds of people - meaning, primarily, white and black people - have come together in this "movement." They want to be part of that, and his campaign intentionally uses it and his likability as part of their plan.
Those things are admirable as far as they go, as elements of a strategy. It's tempting to give in to the good feelings generated by pictures like this one, generated by the popular appeal of who he is, which tends to confirm the decision by Obama supporters like me to back him. While it's fine to feel that wash of good emotion, it's also important to step back out of it and realize: Politician. And I say this as someone who spent most of this weekend registering people to vote for him.
At the same time, look at that crowd, then think about the strategy: People think they are seeing something historic in a charismatic, young black man heading for the White House while also driving a stake through the heart of Republican politics based on lies, greed and fear.
It's no wonder they're excited.
If Obama does well over the summer, if things go the way we all hope they will, as people begin to realize "this guy is really going to win", what size will those crowds be like in October? Forget about being skeptical, I think everyone will be swept along. More importantly, the images generated will cause the media to buy into the heroic storyline of change, especially because it supports the Melting Pot myth. The media are suckers for conflict and heroes, and while they're going to generate a lot of the former, they're going to really embrace the narrative of the latter.
I think.
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