movement against the machine
by Ari Holtz
Published: February 26, 2008
Why is Sen. Barack Obama the front-runner to be the Democratic nominee for president? He really has no business being so. He’s a black man. He has next-to-no national political experience. His Senatorial accomplishments are minimal. He’s skinny. He looks more like a recent Ph.D. recipient in comparative literature than he does a potential commander in chief.
And his opponent? Well, she’s got all the goods. Sen. Hillary Clinton is from a politically powerful family. She’s got name recognition. She’s got eight years in the Senate representing one of the most prominent states in the union. She’s served on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Prior to the last few months, she’s had the backing of just about every major Democratic Party power broker. She, obviously, should be the front runner. But, she’s not. After eleven straight caucus and primary victories, Obama is in a commanding position, both in terms of momentum and delegates. How did this happen?
A movement is defeating a machine.
The Obama campaign is a movement. It’s not about him. It’s about the feeling that he creates in his supporters. They feel that by supporting him they are changing the essence of politics and, subsequently, the essence of the nation. Supporting Obama is perceived as taking part in a historic moment, a moment where America moves past race, past partisan warfare, past the red state versus blue state paradigm to become something better.
Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? Of history? It’s intoxicating. It’s narcotic. It’s irresistible.
The Clinton campaign, conversely, is about her. It’s about how she can move into the White House and get things done. And, there is merit to this. There is a time and a place for an efficient, effective technocrat who can work the system to produce a solid bottom line. Unfortunately, for Hillary, a machine both in her work ethic and in her place in the Democratic establishment, America in 2008 is not that time or place.
Americans are disillusioned and hurting. We are in year six of a seemingly endless war. Our reputation worldwide is severely diminished. Our economy is aching. We are coming to the end of an eight-year administration during which we were attacked from the outside and then lied to and manipulated by those we entrusted with our welfare. Our diagnosis? Malaise.
We’re tired. We’re scared. We’re tired of being scared and scared of becoming even more tired. Yes, we need someone who has the wonky skills necessary to navigate the legislative labyrinth of healthcare reform. Of course, experience in the White House and on the Armed Services Committee is a great asset in dealing with the hot mess that is current geopolitics. Iraq. Afghanistan. Iran. Pakistan. Serbia. North Korea. Oi vei.
Electing a fixer, a cleaner, a governmental Winston Wolfe, though, is just not our top priority right now. Americans want something more than effective solutions to difficult problems. We want to love our country again. We want to feel pride in being Americans again. We want a glow, a healing, a rejuvenation, to leave behind the same fights, the same bickering, the toxicity of George W. Bush, of Congress, of the Clinton haters and of Bill Clinton himself.
This is what Obama offers. He offers movement forward. And the potential of this movement has created a movement not seen since Bobby Kennedy. There’s over-packed meeting halls, the engagement of formerly apathetic youth, shouting, cheering and fainting. All of that exists not so much because Obama is himself so wonderful, but rather because he stirs something powerful in others.
If current trends continue, Obama will win the nomination. He’ll then face Sen. John McCain and a dispirited, unenthusiastic Republican Party. The Obama movement will in all probability lead the Illinois Senator to victory in November. Then comes the hard part. Obama will have to translate abstract ideas - inspiration, transcendence, post-racial, post-partisan, unifying politics, as exciting and stimulating as they are - into real results.
Good luck, Barack. Good luck.
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