Know Hope
For quite some time now I've been a regular reader of Andrew Sullivan's blog the Daily Dish. His perspectives are always bracing and thought provoking. What also attracts me to Sullivan is his unabashed embrace of contradiction. He, like many of us, began by admiring McCain, but the fundamentally unserious nature of the McCain campaign has tarnished his image and his legacy perhaps forever.
Obama's disciplined campaign has allowed him to become known to Americans in a way that few politicians get the chance to do. Obama has worn well. The more people have gotten to see him and to know him, the more he has impressed them. The same cannot be said of either of his opponents, Hillary Clinton or John McCain, both of whom managed to estrange voters as their campaigns seemed to spin out of control.
Endorsing Obama is not some genre of hero worship or messianic politics. It is, rather, an ardent embrace of a deeply serious attempt to rescue American political discourse from the cynical slice and dice tactics of Karl Rove; it is a call to national reconciliation. It's a call for Americans of every political stripe to come to the table with coherent contributions for solving national problems.
But let me put my feelings in very concrete terms: I try to imagine each candidate getting up every morning and putting his every waking moment to the challenge of leading this country through the many challenges it now faces. When I try to imagine each man pouring himself into this effort, discerning both problems and opportunities, leading and listening, giving his maximum effort to achieve the maximum effect, honoring our trust with smart, disciplined,hard work and resolve, I am always far more comforted by the thought that this man is Obama than that it is McCain.
On the eve of this election
I'm genuinely excited about the possiblities that lay ahead. I hope that I'm justified in feeling that way.
In closing, let me refer you to Andrew's post today which sums up the crisis of leadership faced by this country and how an Obama presidency offers us a way back to a government we can both trust and be proud of.
Know hope...vote.
K
Obama's disciplined campaign has allowed him to become known to Americans in a way that few politicians get the chance to do. Obama has worn well. The more people have gotten to see him and to know him, the more he has impressed them. The same cannot be said of either of his opponents, Hillary Clinton or John McCain, both of whom managed to estrange voters as their campaigns seemed to spin out of control.
Endorsing Obama is not some genre of hero worship or messianic politics. It is, rather, an ardent embrace of a deeply serious attempt to rescue American political discourse from the cynical slice and dice tactics of Karl Rove; it is a call to national reconciliation. It's a call for Americans of every political stripe to come to the table with coherent contributions for solving national problems.
But let me put my feelings in very concrete terms: I try to imagine each candidate getting up every morning and putting his every waking moment to the challenge of leading this country through the many challenges it now faces. When I try to imagine each man pouring himself into this effort, discerning both problems and opportunities, leading and listening, giving his maximum effort to achieve the maximum effect, honoring our trust with smart, disciplined,hard work and resolve, I am always far more comforted by the thought that this man is Obama than that it is McCain.
On the eve of this election
I'm genuinely excited about the possiblities that lay ahead. I hope that I'm justified in feeling that way.In closing, let me refer you to Andrew's post today which sums up the crisis of leadership faced by this country and how an Obama presidency offers us a way back to a government we can both trust and be proud of.
Know hope...vote.
K
posted by K at 9:20 PM
1 Comments:
I was a bit lukewarm about Obama at first but over the months I've come to feel he's not only a great politician but also a really decent human being.
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