the (_______) kid
by Edward Savoy
Published: January 29, 2008
Thirty years ago, if a female candidate and a black candidate for president had been contending for a nomination from a major party, at best, the overriding question would have been which one was more irrelevant. At worst, the question would have been which one would get shot first. But today, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are the top two candidates for the Democratic nomination, leaving John Edwards behind to occupy the position of “token white guy.” It is certainly a sign of how far we have come as a country that I can seriously type the phrase “token white guy” in reference to a candidate (for a Democratic nomination anyway; in the Republican race, they’re all token white guys).With his victory in the South Carolina primary, Senator Obama has gained the momentum in the race for the Democratic nomination (or, as I refer to it, the “Formerly Oppressed Peoples Bowl”). One can offer a variety of reasons for Obama’s success against Senator Clinton. One can point to Obama’s eloquence against Clinton’s plodding wonkery or Obama’s fresh face in contrast to Clinton’s practiced mask. One can even point to the fact that Obama seems to be a reasonable facsimile of a real person while Clinton resembles an alien from the planet Zebulon, desperately trying to look human. But, there is a far more accurate reason for Obama’s success that does not involve his opponent being an extraterrestrial.
Obama is gaining strength and disciples because he is the ultimate candidate in the sense that he is utterly formless. Everyone gets the sense that Obama is fresh and new, brimming with youth and enthusiasm, unity and change. But no one seems to know what that means exactly. Or, to put it another way, everyone seems to know exactly what that means.
You see, Obama has a face for everyone, though not by any effort of his own to be duplicitous. Through our collective need to have a fresh and new candidate, we’ve created one, one that is a blank slate that everyone can project their own hopes and dreams onto. If we want him to be a liberal, he’s that. If we want him to be a moderate, he’s that. If we want him to be Luke Skywalker, taking on the forces of Darth Vader, the Evil Empire and the Republicans, well, he’s that too. He’s the political equivalent of a Visa card: he’s anything we want him to be.
Senator Clinton cannot possibly compete with that. If Obama is a blank slate, Clinton is a post-modern sculpture of definite features, but unknown form. In her case, the sculpture has been eaten away so often by acid and remolded to accommodate a new artistic vision that it’s impossible to discern what the sculpture was to begin with.
It is certainly too soon to write Senator Clinton’s political obituary. If the public could have given Bill Clinton a 3rd term in 2000, and chances are they would have, then Hillary is the next best thing. The Clinton name still carries the addictive quality of heroin for Democratic junkies desperate to return to the White House. But it is not easy to fight against such utter blankness.
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