Obama '08?

Come on, okie! This is the Obamanistas' moment. Let them enjoy it; don't be a party-pooper. You'll have over five months to attack their candidate, starting tomorrow.

I want to say something personal about Obama, and him being president.

If Obama were actually elected president of this country, it would deeply and permanently validate me in a way that would be hard to describe.

It would decisively and authoritatively cash that "check" that MLK referred to, when he talked about the promise of this country, always coming back marked "insufficient funds".

It would settle in my mind and heart, once and for all, one question that has been buried in the psyche of persons of color for ages. The question is "Are we truly equal?"

Race is an elusive and treacherous issue. I see polls today that reflect a deep ambivalence and widespread dissonance. People, black and white, believe race to be still a telling factor in daily life in America - but - people all believe the problem to be coming from someone else. It is never they themselves who are harboring the destructive attitudes, it is always their neighbor, or some other people, elsewhere.

If Obama were elected president, I would finally know that all the talk I hear about progress and colorblindness and the land of opportunity, etc, etc, etc, had real substance.

If Obama were elected president, I could go to my grave with an age old anxiety stilled.
I would actually be able to say to a little black boy "If you study and work hard and play by the rules, there is no limit to what you can accomplish in America." People of color still say that to their children, but if Obama were elected president, I could by God actually mean it without the lingering doubts. We see Morgan Freeman (in Deep Impact) or Dennis Haysbert (on '24') play the role, but I submit that that is something we cannot really say with conviction until we've seen it happen.

Now, I know this is a terribly narrow and self-centered way of looking at something with a myriad of other issues involved. I know I'm talking about the office of the most powerful man on this planet as if it were some kind of popularity contest at the local Kiwanis, or something.

But I just wanted to say, on this thread here about the possibility of electing that man - that black man - as President of the United States of America, that dammit, it would mean so very much...

...to me.

engineer wrote:

On the whole, I think Clinton can go back to the Senate as one of the biggest names in the Democratic party and she is completely out of the shadow of her husband. I think she also erased some of the comments in early March that her campaign was completely incompetent, so that's a plus.

I agree with that. She has also gained a strong position for herself in the event (however likely or unlikely you may see it) that she has a shot at the nomination in 2012.

So I need to turn off the computer and get the kid to bed... I hope to be back later but I might not be able to. Seems like it'll be good news in the morning regardless but I'd sure like to see it live.