The Politics of Hope

I am a Barack Obama supporter and I was pretty depressed this morning...

...not clinically suicidal but bummed out and unable to see anything positive about a) losing the Ohio and Texas primaries, b) still not knowing the results of the Texas Caucus, c) starting the daily news cycle with Samantha Power stepping in it and worst of all, d) having nothing to look forward to but a seven-week pie fight that could make Operation Barbossa look like a friendly jostle over who picks up the tab for dinner.

More after the jump...

I must confess that my initial reaction to Tuesday's results was to hope that Obama would show some spine and fight back against Clinton.  "Show he can throw a punch" was the commonly quoted line.  I even recc'd and tipped a number of diaries and comments suggesting that all of the Clinton baggage, including Bill's zipper, is now "fair game".

And, sure enough, as I waded through my standard blog-roll of Drudge (let the flogging begin), TPM and Politico before arriving here at DKos, I saw that scenario playing out.  BHO supporters and surrogates were lining up to remind HRC partisans that Hillary really IS a monster as well as a Republican secret agent who would support McCain over Obama.  But as I scrolled through the comments, alternately wincing and cheering, I realized that none of this was improving my bad mood.  If anything, I was becoming more discourged at the prospect of slogging through this same swamp for another SEVEN WEEKS.  How different from the amazing high of only a few weeks ago!  

So, I took a time-out from the terrible urgency of today's news and went back to look at the speeches from Iowa, New Hampshire and Virginia.  I remembered the chills that went up and down my spine the first time I listened to the original will.i.am video and how Derek from California almost single-handedly restored my faith in America's youth.  It helped.  I started feeling better.  

But the funny thing is that the one line that jumped out at me was not a "warm fuzzy".  It was the opening to his speech after the New Hampshire loss...

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics that will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks and months to come..

And, "Oh My" , the chorus has grown louder.

My next stop was Obama's web site which I visited for the very first time!  Now you may laugh, but one of the twisted rationalizations that I use to justify my personal "objectivity" is that I do not listen to "campaign propoganda".  So up until now I had never been to the Obama site and have still not visited Clinton's site other than to provide you gentle readers with this link <g>.

On the Obama site I found a link to the new Rolling Stone feature which I am surprised to see has not yet been the subject of a DKos diary.  It is a must-read for Obama supporters although it will undoubtedly be dismissed by "the chorus of cynics" as just more "pillow talk" from a MSM that is fundamentally biased against Clinton.

Reading the article I was reminded that:

"Obama has emerged by displaying precisely the kind of character and judgment we need in a president: renouncing the politics of fear, speaking frankly on the most pressing issues facing the country and sticking to his principles. He recognizes that running for president is an opportunity to inspire an entire nation."

It is unfortunate that I needed such a reminder since I am already a committed supporter but such is the effect of the noise coming from the mainstream media AND the blogosphere that it sometimes drowns out even our "inner voice".

Which brings me to my conclusion, not necessarily epiphanous but resolute nonetheless.  Going negative is not the answer.  When the Clinton campaign throws the kitchen sink we can politely correct the facts but there is no need to "return fire".  If turning the other cheek was good enough for MLK and Ghandi, it's good enough for me.

Let's not forget the math.  We are ahead.  The only way Obama can lose is to self-destruct or to have his supporters self-destruct for him.  Forgive the cliche but "it takes two to tango" and eventually, if only the Clinton side is slinging the shit, the media and the public will be reminded, as I was this morning, that there is truly just one candidate who represents real change.

"...in the unlikely story that is America there has never been anything false about hope."

Peace