Thursday, October 16, 2008
Back into blogging, friends, with these thoughts. I was taken with the way the narratives for both Obama and McCain have begun to solidify. Obama is the cool, confident, steady, stable "port in the storm" guy, very comfortable with himself, while McCain is the angry, erratic, not so comfortable in his skin guy. I don't think before the debates started that that was how the two men were perceived. Of course, it's an interaction between the person and the situation. As the economic situation has gotten worse and worse (or perceived to be getting worse and worse), Obama's star has risen. It hasn't helped McCain that Palin is now perceived (if the polls are an indication) as a "nice person" but not fit to lead (Troopergate and her interviews with Charles Gibson and Katie Couric haven't helped either). I guess the debates increased the comfort level of people with Obama, perhaps showed that he wasn't some strange creature, "not like us", but someone people could envision sitting in the Oval office. I don't think the deal is closed quite yet for Obama. The reason? Race. But I'll devote another post to that.
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This crystallization of candidate
personality is in favor of the candidate that I support so I cannot complain about it all. However, I do think the fact that you mentioned that despite the favorable view many Americans have begun to cultivate about Obama he may not win because of race is profound. I just wrote a post about race and the implications it has in this election. I can't help but think about how disgusted I would be if a candidate who really has done so well proving his abilities (in my opinion, of course) was defeated because of racism. What would this mean for our country? Would we revert back somewhat to the times of the civil rights struggle? I think that the fact that this is even a possibility is terrifying because it would not only tear our country apart but it would further jeopardize our reputation and legitimacy in the international arena. How can we claim freedom and democracy as our values when we can't seen to practice them at home?
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