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So the Pennsylvania primary is over, and the results should come as no surprise. (The end results, that is. I had no idea Hillary would win by such a wide margin.) The spin camps are already at work, and the victory that Obama fought so hard to claim had been reduced to a small and insignificant blip to his national campaign.
But let’s look at the whole picture here, shall we? Obama lost the Keystone State because there’s at least one demographic of people he doesn’t understand: rural Americans. That he understands and ably sympathesizes with the global poor is unimpeachable. But here this connection is most keenly needed.
My immediate Philadelphia neighbors understand the thirst for the familiarity the Clintons bring, both in name brand and the fact that Hillary is really just one of the boys. Only with breasts. She’s a liar, a shameless manipulator, and is willing to do anything, say anything, and be anyone to get elected. And she appeals to all the people that Obama doesn’t.
This puts into stark relief the inescapable futility of a singular Executive Office. If the president can’t reasonably represent all the people – and he or she can’t – what’s the point? Somebody’s going to have to get screwed… a whole mess of somebodies actually. A friend of mine recently opined that flawed as his is, Obama still represent the face of America.
But he doesn’t. No one candidate does. Can Obama learn more, strive to be more? Yes, but only with a little humility. Filmmaker Michael Moore wrote that Obama the movement and Obama the man are two separate things – and Obama the movement is certainly worthy of election, of forging the way toward a new America.
I agree with him on this point (yes, I know he says Obama the man is, too). But more work must be done. Obama can’t just represent college-educated urbanites and suburbanites and claim to truly understand America. That will leave a whole lot of people out of the mix. And he can’t claim that this educated throng (you know, represented by all of you) really think that contributions from oil companies is a good thing or that Jimmy Carter having from all accounts a fruitful meeting with Hamas leaders in Ramallah is a bad thing. Obama is playing politics, getting better at it as he goes along. Sigh…. How refreshing it would be to see a politician who only told the truth, without spin.
Obama the movement is still my choice for presidency. But how long will it last? Can it last? Wouldn’t it be great to see a Obama/Gravel/McCain and yes, even Clinton (and Carter) team running the country? This would be the true system of checks and balances. In the meantime, we continue to settle for the leavings of the American Dream.
