I don’t want to get too mystical and worshipful about Obama. I certainly realize that at the end of the day, it will all be about the grinding road to the general election and then the inevitable disappointments that actual governing brings with it. However, I think we should also take a few moments to reflect on how extraordinary this election season has been and what a special individual the Democratic Party has nominated.
This has defied ALL conventional wisdom. This result is a testament to not only Obama and his campaign’s extraordinary skill, but to America itself and our ability to continue to hope, dream and work for healing change. Win or lose, Barack Obama has permanently transformed the landscape of American politics. And he’s just getting warmed up.
From John Podhoretz:
A black man will be his party’s nominee to be president of the United States. If you were a betting man and you had to place a bet on who is going to win in November, you would be prudent to place it on him. He is a problematic candidate, but not because of his father’s ancestry; rather, because of his views. He will carry aloft the standard of a great political party and a powerful ideological coalition. This is a culminating moment for the United States.
The final word from The Man himself. The concluding paragraph of a very interesting profile of Obama in todays NYT:
“I love when I’m shaking hands on a rope line and”— he mimes the motion, hand over hand — “I see little old white ladies and big burly black guys and Latino girls and all their hands are entwining. They’re feeding on each other as much as on me.”
He shrugs; it’s that distancing eye of the author.
“It’s like I’m just the excuse.”
