Sunday, January 27, 2008

Of Two Minds

Although I recognize that SC is hardly representative of the country as a whole, I was surprised enough at Obama's 2-to-1 results to have a brief frisson, equally of excitement at the thought that someone with his message might win and of fear at the thought that. . . someone with his message might win. I can't help recalling that our most emotionally resonant candidates (e.g., JFK) often led us down the garden path to the greatest disasters (cf. The Best and the Brightest), as did those candidates who were least connected to the mess in DC (e.g., Jimmy Carter).

Carrie points out that the unrepentant Grandpa Joe Kennedy must be spinning in his grave at his granddaughter's endorsement of the man who would never have been allowed at his club.

Super Tuesday had better come quickly. The fallout is going to be huge, either way.
Posted by at
Labels:

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You seem to be seriously over-reaching for a reason to dismiss Obama. Expecting him to replicate JFK's mistakes, or Carter's, seems damning without evidence. You could also perhaps (more aptly) compare him to Clinton, coming from nowhere to capture the imagination (and depending on one's perspective, one might consider that a good presidency). What I don't get, and I hear it often, is what seems to be fear of someone who can capture the imagination and perhaps galvanize a country to start down a better path. What are people afraid of? It's almost like a fear of failure -- don't try, because maybe it can't be done. Better maybe to have Bush, who gives us someone to rail against...

January 28, 2008 at 3:44 PM
Anonymous said...

You're wrong to think I dismiss him; in fact, I think he might win. I do not, however, think he bears much of a comparison to Bill C, who was all about wonkiness. HRC got reamed recently for speaking about MLK dreaming the dream and LBJ doing the work, which was a not-very-veiled comparison between Obama the Dreamer and HRC (and Bill) the Workhorse. It all comes down to what you want in a President. I'm a little bit tired of having a President who is all ideology and no work at all. If you don't think GWB hasn't galvanized us to start down a different path, think again. But it ain't a better path. I prefer the LBJ model, horrible though I think he was as a person. If he wins the nomination, I will happily work my tail off for Obama. And you?

January 28, 2008 at 4:17 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)