Don’t elect Obama–he’s likable!

Politics is about power, potentially an enormous amount, and I question the motives, the sanity, and the general psychology of anyone who desires so much of it.  Political power, with the fame and public scrutiny that comes with it, is more than most people can handle, much like with any Hollywood celebrity.  That’s how we end up with so many train wrecks.  I expect, whether warranted or not, that all politicians will accept at least some degree of corruption, and employ some degree of dishonesty in their work.  There are green ones who come in with bright eyes, but it seems like the few who stay that way either fail or are denied any substantial political ascent.  Not that politicians should be saints–they’re only human; but it’s sad when we as a people expect so little of the people that are supposed to ensure our well-being.  (I include myself in this criticism.)

That said, I fear we’ve become a little too accustomed to our habitual and perpetual distrust of politicians.  As Barack Obama is a politician, I can only assume that he occasionally has ulterior motives for his actions, and that he occasionally employs dishonesty in his work, either to the extent of your average crooked politico or merely to that of anyone else who has to tell white lies to get through the day.  (I’d love to be wrong, of course.)  So I agree that some media are unfair in the coverage or positive spin given to his campaign versus that of John McCain.  Obama really is kind of a rock star, and we mustn’t let that steer our attention away from his politics, or make us blind to any mistakes or poor judgment for which he should be held accountable.  But I get frustrated when I hear people criticizing the Obama-loving for adoring the candidate as much as they do.  A certain amount of complaining is to be expected from the opposing party and campaign, but…

Shouldn’t we like the person that might be running our country?  Isn’t that the idea?

The 2008 Presidential Election: Turning gold into mud

     

The 2004 presidential election was the first in which I was eligible to vote.  While I was happy to participate in an effort to get President Bush out of office, I was also in no way enamored of John Kerry.  My enthusiasm for the election was limited to wanting Bush gone and, in retrospect, I was young and didn’t follow enough politics or current issues to merit much excitement about the election. 

A lot has changed during these past four years.  I got older, more aware of the world around me, as did other people.  Many of us became increasingly disillusioned with our government and its politics, along with the gross media culture and pop culture that have become scary disfigured entities.  And while my words here are coming from someone who is politically and socially liberal, who doesn’t shop at Wal-Mart, who isn’t obese, who hates most reality TV shows, who likes to read, who has ventured outside of the country, who has a college education, there are people quite different from me who feel the pain, too, even if  not for all the same reasons.  

This new election race started many, many months ago and I was automatically more excited than I was for the last one, due to my slightly wiser age and a second Bush term fastening itself under our belt.  I made an effort to pay more attention to the candidates on both sides.  On the Democrats’ side I became particularly fond of Obama, but I felt certain that there was no way mainstream America, even the mainstream voting Democrats, were ready to vote for a black man, whether because of racism or because of the (then) statistical unlikelihood of him becoming President.  I felt the same way about Clinton due to her gender.  

And look how it turned out.  Had I become too pessimistic and cynical?  Did I not have enough faith in my country and in my fellow citizens?

I wouldn’t go that far.  Clearly I underestimated my compatriots, and the fact that our front-runners were a black man and a woman (and that our Democratic nominee is the very same black man), as much as we shouldn’t make their respective races and genders an issue, is a huge deal.  But that’s where it ends, and I needn’t worry that I’ve lost my cynicism because the media and the morons working on the candidates’ campaigns have more than made up for any tomfoolery lacking in the lay population.

My frustration stems from our/the media’s/the campaign managers’/etc. need to have something condemn,criticize, blast, attack at all times, in big letters on TV and on line and in the papers.  (A Google search for “obama blasts” yielded 5,700,000 results; “mccain blasts” yielded 3,400,000.)  This isn’t something unique to politics.  Sensationalism always sells, but, as I’ve written in previous posts, the excessive in-your-face nature of our American culture and our popular culture seems to feed off itself, multiplying itself, infiltrating things like our politics until we can never have just news anymore.  We can’t just state a fact about a presidential candidate, particularly if it’s a criticism.  I could be mistaken, but doesn’t pointing out undesirable traits of another candidate come with the territory when one is CAMPAIGNING for an ELECTION?  If they’re supposed to make out and get married then we should rethink this whole democratic election thing.  And they’ll have to go to Massachusetts or California.

That is not to say that I like the attack ads and negative campaigning.  I absolutely don’t.  But pointing out a difference in an ad or a debate doesn’t have to be the same as making vicious, baseless claims.  A recent example that comes to mind is the interview that General Wesley Clark, an Obama supporter, did on Face the Nation, in which he lauds McCain’s service and experience, but says that his wartime and military experiences do not automatically qualify him to be President.  You can see the video here.

Pundits across the nation went into a frenzy grabbing mere clips of this interview, headlines saying that General Clark was insulting McCain’s service and underestimating his patriotism.  Even Obama, whether it was truly his own reaction or one obliged by his people, gave his patriotism speech pointing out that no one should devalue McCain’s service.  You can see a more detailed article on that, along with some examples, here.  When I started seeing the coverage the interview was getting, and the way they were editing his sound bites and how politicos and their people were coming out of the woodwork condemning General Clark’s remarks, I thought, Were we watching the same interview? 

We’re bombarded with sound bites from Obama’s infamous ”bitter remarks”, and OH MY GOD HE’S NOT WEARING HIS FLAG PIN.  Anything anyone says is golden potential to be a scandal.  I see plenty of things on the BBC and on PBS news that I don’t see covered on CNN or FOX NEWS or MSNBC; can’t they find some other things to talk about, rather than making nothing into something?  Or mere somethings into breaking news that they’ll drag on with melodramatic headlines that more and more appear to be templates where you just insert the new and relevant noun, verb or adjective?

Which brings me to the title of this post, and back to my initial points.  I was getting so stoked for this election, and apparently new voters of all sorts have taken unprecedented interest in this election, which is fabulous.  But my interest is waning, and if mine is then I have to imagine others are experiencing the same thing.  This election is already groundbreaking and exciting in so many ways, but the need for scandals and attacks and blasts has become so severe that we’re turning this glorious new occasion into a murky, grimy blob that all too much resembles any other election we’ve had in the last few decades…or any reality show.  And we eat it up!  What is it about us and our current state of mind that makes us so willing to ruin things?  Why can’t one candidate make a legitimate statement about another without having to recant it later, or without having the candidate reject those claims?  Why am I still hearing about Obama’s infuriating “bitter remarks” when in Europe a woman whose forearms and hands had been amputated many years ago got a transplant and has 95% sensation in her new limbs?  Why are we busying ourselves misconstruing General Clark’s comments when in recent weeks Spain has both made it legal for a child to be registered as having two mothers and has given landmark rights to primates?  WHY am I listening to people whine about lapel pins (so much so that now Obama appears to have given in) for more time than is devoted to the corrupt elections, violence and displacements in Zimbabwe?  Once Ingrid Betancourt is settled in a few weeks or a couple months, we’ll all forget about her and her ordeal, but I know I’ll still be hearing about the wardrobe differences between Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain and which one of them is more liked by middle-class American women and why.

Where did our brains go?  Where did our sense go?  Both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama are emphasizing change, in one way or another.  It doesn’t seem like there are very many people that think everything’s fine and that our politics, economy, laws, and culture should stay just the way they are.  So why are we trying to force the politicians, their supporters, and their campaigns to fit the obnoxious mold of the past , and carefully selecting our sound bites and our headlines to fit that mold when they dissent?  Our love for excess is turning something wonderful into something ugly and undesirable.