Barring an attack on American soil, Obama will win. Why? Look at the sort of leaders voters have bought into in the past 30 years, and the sort they have rejected.
Putting aside all differences of ideology, intellect, and personality, Obama’s fundamental character follows in the vein of Bush II, Clinton, Reagan, even early Carter… in that he is a wide-eyed, optimistic, idealistic, charismatic son-of-a-bitch. Americans eat that shit up! It plays into all of our self-mythologies about individualism, you-can-do-it, character, and progress.
Grandpa McCain, however, is a hard nosed, seasoned pragmatist (read: Kerry, Dole, Bush I, even Gore). These types are all losers, with the exception of Bush riding Reagan’s coattails against an even bigger loser in ‘88. While a tough, pragmatic old politician may make for a great Senator, Americans are far too idealistic and in love with the idea the president runs the whole country fairly single-handedly to vote for someone that they don’t see as a superhuman type figure. Obviously, charisma is important for any political job, but it’s taken to the extreme with the American presidency. So, based on past performance, that’s why I think this is Obama’s to lose.
No comments:
Post a Comment