First, there was the Patrick "scandal". Clinton's campaign is trying to pain Obama as a plagiarist, when in fact, politicians "steal" lines from each other all the time. Both Clintons have done it, and even worse, Patrick and Obama already discussed the merits of Obama using Patrick's lines and everything was all cleared. Whether or not Obama should have cited him better is really a petty issue at this point.
"Obamania" makes me, as an Obama supporter, feel devalued as a voter. How can it be seen that all Obama supporters are just buying into a "cult of Obama". Placing personality at all as a basis for President is not a new phenomenon; it's a big reason Bush won the seat twice, and all sorts of politicians before that. Would Bill Clinton have been voted in if he were not as charismatic as he is? Probably not, and it can be said about nearly every president elect. There are dozens of reasons I chose Obama over Clinton, his personality is just one.
And even if this article is a little cynical, I like it. When the magic fades his supporters are still there.
The victims of O.C.S. struggle against Obama-myopia, or the inability to see beyond Election Day. But here’s the fascinating thing: They still like him. They know that most of his hope-mongering is vaporous. They know that he knows it’s vaporous.
But the fact that they can share this dream still means something. After the magic fades and reality sets in, they still know something about his soul, and he knows something about theirs. They figure that any new president is going to face gigantic obstacles. At least this candidate seems likely to want to head in the right direction. Obama’s hype comes from exaggerating his powers and his virtues, not faking them.
But this is the sort of thing I came into supporting this campaign with the idea of. Do I like everything he does? Of course not, but like David Brooks said, it's a step in a the correct direction. It will take time to fix decades of built-in problems with government, I'm not foolish.
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Kosovo is now its own country. Should we rejoice? I'm still trying to figure it out.
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Today's BIG NEWS: Castro Steps Down. In his place, Rual Castro, Fidel's brother will be president until elections.
And some older articles:
Obama may be inexperienced, but does it matter? A judgment/experience debate
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An Al Gore person told me, "Now you understand why Al Gore didn't use Bill Clinton in 2000." The bottom line: with the former president it's all about him, and you can't trust him to stay on message. Democrats still love him, but they've had their fill. [source]
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As for today, Wisconsin has a primary for both parties, Hawaii has a Democratic caucus, and Washington State [woot!] has a primary for both parties where only the Republican primary counts for delegates.
