Barack Obama might be my last hope for…hope.

30Jan08

I’m cynical when it comes to just about everything…especially politics.  I read the news, research the candidates, follow the primaries, listen to the analysts, and on every election-day you’ll find me with an “I Voted” sticker.  However, as much as I participate in our political process, I recognize that we are a Republic, the democracy with the lower-case “d”, and the majority makes the laws.  So, while I understand the meaning behind “every vote counts” I also understand its restrictions.

Most, if not all, of the times that I vote, I leave several categories on my ballot blank.  I don’t vote for candidates or issues of whom/which I don’t regard myself knowledgeable enough to make an educated decision.  Plus, while I have only recently officially branded myself an Independent, I never was one for toeing party lines.

So, what does Barack Obama have to do with me?  From an issues standpoint, I consider myself to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal, so I’m at odds with a fair amount of his policies.

But what’s hard to ignore is his draw.  He’s speeches are rousing, his presence is impressive, and his followers are impassioned.  (Hell, because of him, I even found myself intently listening to Ted Kennedy.)  Even more importantly, those who support him represent a plurality of young and diverse demographics.  These are the usually unimpressed and uninterested.  It’s those who were once disillusioned by the system and felt that change was impossible, that now flow into the streets in droves with a spark of hope in their eyes.  And this does not mean that he doesn’t have support from the “older” voters as well.  He does.  But unlike his counterparts that draw followers that are formulaic, Obama’s supporters cross the typical lines of gender, race, beliefs, and age.  In short, they are truly representative of “the people”.

When Hillary Clinton’s post-primary speech consisted of Bill Clinton speaking for his wife, ironically in Independence, Missouri,  in his “current capacity post-politics” (his words), listing his own accomplishments and touting the need for a “change in direction” that will somehow be met by putting the Clintons back into the White House by electing a candidate campaigning on years of experience in the current political system and drawing support from the 65+ demographic…I couldn’t help but laugh.  Not in that “Boy that’s funny” kind of way, but more in that “You’ve gotta be kidding me!” kind of way.

Now understand that the skeptical part of me, which constitutes my overwhelming majority, recognizes that Obama might be just as much of a “typical” politician as the rest, and that I, like his followers, might be being fooled.  And, since I may decide that it is my responsibility to vote solely on the issues, I may not be counted with his numbers in the end.

Still, I yearn to bring to reality what his campaign represents – the ability of the people to institute change.  A system that can silence the skeptic and provide hope to the hopeless.  And with the other alternatives providing nothing new, it appears to me that with this candidate there’s little to risk, but so much to gain.

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Tags: Barack, Clinton, Hillary, hope, Obama, Politics