Yes We Can

Ann Althouse says this, today:

Throughout the rally, supporters waved Hillary signs, wore shirts with logos such as, "Got experience?," and chanted, "Yes she can."My emailer snarks:
[It] kind of sums up the difference between their two candidacies (hers is about her, his is about us). That's funny, but in fact we are electing a President. "We" are not going to be doing the job, that one individual is. The only thing we are going to do is pick the person who will take over the immense job of running the country.

This is in discussion of this video that I'm sure most everyone has seen by now.

I'm really struck by this video not just because of it's production value and quality but because so many people, including me, are buying into Barack Obama to the point that we can watch something like this and be moved completely and without irony.

The above comment on Althouse is true in practice, but I think it illustrates the difference in philosophies, not of the candidates, but of the people who are voting for the candidates. For the first time in a long, long time, the Obama supporters feel like THEY are the important ones in this election.

I've been struck over the past few weeks by the feeling that I'll be really, really disappointed if Obama DOESN'T get the nomination. I was pretty much undecided between the two for the longest time but now find myself becoming emotionally invested in Obama's candidacy.

I think it's because, as a 28-year-old American, I've longed for a President that inspires. I've heard tale of people who felt inspired by leaders but I had really begun to believe that it was either no longer possible or that, like so much of the 60's, the idea was something that has been exaggerated over time and sold back to us. A willful deception by our parents generation who merely wanted to make themselves feel superior to our generation just as their parents did to them.

But Obama makes us "feel" like it's possible to have inspiring leadership. That it's possible to have a leader who we are proud of. As sappy as that may sound, it's the first time most in our generation have dared to feel this way.

But we, The Gen-X/Y-ers desperately WANT to feel like we are part of something. We WANT that story that we can tell our kids about. "I was at home, watching when the first Black candidate to win a primary moved me to tears."

And, yet, I find myself almost unwilling to believe that it will actually happen. That I will be disappointed. That my party, as it so often has and that my country, as it so often does, will let me down.

However, for the first time in my lifetime I'm beginning to believe that it's possible. I'm beginning to believe, unironically, in "Hope", in "Movement".

I'm beginning to believe unironically that yes we, in fact, can.

UPDATE: I've closed the comments for the first time in the history of this blog because we can't keep it constructive and because, given the fact that I've been blogging so little over the past few months that I can't imagine HOW a little post would engender this much response naturally. The only explanation is that something else is influencing the commenting, so I'm closing them on this post.

Comments

[anita]

By the end of this post, I had a tear in my eye. I am 10 years older and I feel exactly the same way. I am inspired by Barack Obama and I (almost desperately) want him to win now because he feels like such an inspiration to us.

[Justin]

I believe that you have lived under a president that inspires. George W. is one of the greatest presidents this country has seen. Wouldn't you Agree???

GO GIANTS!

[Kathleen]

My thoughts exactly. I've watched the video several times, and it never fails to give me goosebumps.

[Ted]

Want to talk about goosebumps, you should watch George W. give any speech. He is brilliant in every way. He has done a lot for this country, and has not done anything that the past presidents have done.

[Jason]

Do you really want to see someone like Obama or Hillary destroy all that George W. Bush has built for America? If it wasn't for wire taps, preventive declarations of war, and the great measures taken to protect our great country, we'd all be dead right now from terrorist attacks. NOBODY on the left side of the aisle has the intestinal fortitude and integrity that George W. Bush has proven in his two terms as President of the United States of America. I only wish he could give us one more term so that he could finally catch Bin Laden.

Go Giuliani '08!

[Ted]

I have to ask Jason, are you being serious or Sarcastic? Because it is true, without the wire taps and other great things George has done for us as Americans, we WOULD be dead. Everyone bad mouths him and all he has done is help us be free. If everyone had a little George W. in them this country would be a utopia.

[Jason]

Justin, I am 100% serious. W is one of the greatest presidents we have had in modern times. I am tired of people trying to downplay his success in the War on Terror. Gore would have curled up in a corner and cried on 9/11. Actually, he probably would have pursued the culprits, but only because of the pollution that was released into the air by the smoke coming from the buildings. Kerry would have pulled our troops out of Iraq if he was elected and the people of Iraq wouldn't be making progress toward a great Democracy like ours! Because of Bush, we are the safest we have ever been and we might have a great trade relationship with the Middle East one of these days because W saw that the Iraqi people needed to be liberated.

And give me a break about Obama. If he is elected president then the streets will run with the blood of murdered babies and my paychecks will shrink from all of the money I'm paying toward social programs like universal healthcare. It's really easy to make catchy videos and promise the people "Hope" and "Change" but it's a lot harder to actually do something positive for the American people. I don't think Obama has a clue what to do if he is elected. I will give him credit for being an excellent speaker. That brings me to a question: If Obama is elected, will any criticism of him over the next 4/8 years be labeled as racist? Methinks so.

[Jason]

The above comment was directed at Ted, not Justin, but I agree with you too, Justin!

[Jesse]

I think it says a lot that praise for Bush works better as satire.

[Jason]

I think it says a lot that I can't get an answer from anybody on why they like Barack Obama other than "change" and "hope." Or "Because Oprah said so."

[Ted McPott]

I think Jason nailed it. I bet people like Jesse can't even tell me what Clinton and Obama stand for. They just know that the two of them running is causing controversy so therefore they better vote for one or the other.