Gathering Speed

The title character in Warren Beatty’s ‘Bulworth’ kicked off his campaign speeches with the easily digestible line: “We stand on the doorstep of a new millenium.” A lot of people saw the turn of the century that way, expecting everything to change. It is arguable that the terrorist attacks on September 11 did in fact change the world, but it didn’t really change America at all. If you want to argue it quantitative or qualitatively, the day-to-day in this country is exactly the same as it was in 1999. Sure, you can’t bring shampoo on a plane anymore (which is ridiculous), but once you reach your destination, the world is pretty much the same. The government has always been using illegal wiretaps and has always been viewed as corrupt or directionless. That’s just part of the deal. It doesn’t help exactly that the last two presidents have been textbook embodiments of everything their parties stand for: Clinton being the affirmative action, welfare state saxaphone playing smooth as cream cheese operator and George W. Bush being the money grubbing, one nation under god, anti-abortion good ole boy. These are of course exaggerations in terms, but not really in action. It is the stark polarity of these two men that have launched what acclaimed historian Howard Smead labled “a dangerously sectarian culture war.” We have red states, we have blue states, and each side thinks the other is stupid. Democracy in action.

The funny thing about the people who carry the placards and wear the buttons and write the letters and shout the slogans is that Clinton and Bush are incredibly similar. Both are old, rich white guys from Yale. Both subscribed to the country club law of taking care of their backers and special interest groups. They are the face of a nation that went from being the most socially progressive to the most culturally stilted. When you look at the politics of nations like England, Germany, China, and India, it almost looks like they’re in the future, like they have flying cars or something.

But on November 7th, we’ll know if we are indeed standing on the doorstep of change. On November 7th, Barack Obama will decide whether he’s going to make a run at the presidency in 2008.

The first effect of this is that the democrats won’t be forced to roll out Hillary Clinton to challenge the republicans, who will likely pass on too-secular John McCain and too-inexperienced Rudi Giuliani to wheel out another faceless republican clone like Bill Frist or George “Let’s Mock Some Indians” Allen. I honestly have not seen enough of Hillary to make an assessment of her capablities as a leader, and I refuse to jump on the bandwagon that claims it’ll just be a third term for Bill. The part that troubles me about Mrs. Rodham is that she’s a carpetbagger, having moved to New York to claim the Senate. I think she wants to be President, but doesn’t want any of the control or responsibility.

The second effect is that Barack Obama is a downright impressive guy. His speeches are empassioned and nonmechanical. He doesn’t come across as a politician, he comes across as a leader. And while the die-hards will say that we don’t care what the world thinks, the world will like us a lot more with someone like him in office.

Now, it’s not all peaches and cream on the way to the white house, especially for a black politican (he’s actually only half black, but the ignorant among us fail to see the other half; these are the people who came up with the term ‘octaroon’). Forget the fact that he doesn’t have an anglican name (and you KNOW someone will try to make a connection between Obama and Osama…just wait on that). The man is the wrong color for a lot of people in this country, far more than we would care to believe. And in all likelihood, somewhere on the campaign trail or during his term, some racist Sum’bitch is going to try to shoot him. Colin Powell’s wife talked him out of a presidential bid for this exact reason. As progressive as we like to think we are, the confederate flag is still a major part of the Southern culture, and the “they’re takin’ over!” mentality will only be goaded further by a black candidate or president.

Personally, I think there is a visibly important component to Obama as a president and it’s not his skin color. It’s his age. America has only been around for 230 years, yet we have this image of being archaic already. A little revolution every now and then is a good thing, and I’ll betcha Obama can provide it. Here’s hoping he goes for it.