Obamamania
Obamamania hit Kulas Library pretty hard yesterday. One of our student workers asked off to attend a sudden meeting she had. No problem, as she did the right thing and got somebody else to work her shift. But then that person wanted to leave early too, to go to the Obama rally, and it turned out that Person 1 was actually working the rally so that she could get in...I guess they gave out 7000 tickets for a 3000-capacity space. I guess it was just as well I not know that; I still would have let her go, but I would probably have been more grudging about it.
I came home, and Rusty was all pumped, having heard the beginnings on WTAM on the way home...and was ticked that there was no TV coverage. My receiver doesn't get AM, for lack of an appropriate antenna, and Mon. is TV night for her, so she wanted to be in the living room...but she wouldn't move the stereo in her room that was blasting down the hallway while I was trying to work. So I went into my survival supplies and broke out the Grundig (which sounded better anyway). I told her I was going to let her listen alone, because I wouldn't be able to resist making snide comments, and why burst her bubble? By that point the fluffers had been getting the crowd up for an hour and a half. Finally, the Great Man spoke, for about 20 minutes. I asked my wife what he had said, and it was the usual...pull the troops out, give the teachers more money. Personally, since Democrats think other countries usually have better ideas than we do, I think we should pay our teachers a wage equal to the average of teachers in the 4 countries on either side of our academic ranking. They should get paid what that kind of teaching is worth; sounds perfectly fair to me.
Sorry, I don't get what the fuss is about. Obama is a fresh face, and he's not the Hildebeast. But I haven't heard any ideas out of the man, and the hoopla is entirely out of proportion to the presentation. If I were a Christian paranoid, I might even suspect that it's the work of Satan, and we're headed for the Obama-nation of Desolation.
Comments
Posted by: jeffrey smith
Posted on: February 27, 2007 10:50 PM
Mostly because he is a fresh face. He is also an effective speaker--not a great orator, but effective. I would rate the junior senator from Illinois a better speaker than the junior senator from New York, or the former senator from North Carolina. In fact, he's probably better at the lectern than almost all the other candidates to whom the media pays attention.
Factor no. 2: The junior senator from Illinois has an effective counterpunch to one argument that can be made for the junior senator from New York. Unlike every one else, her supporters can argue that "it's time for a woman to be president". Only he is in the position to make an equivalent and nullifying counterdemand: "It's time for a black to be president."
Factor no. 3: The junior senator from Illinois' status as a mulatto, or as the political correctors say, a biracial person. He's got enough African ancestry (possibly more than many others who are lumped into the category African-American) to satisfy the cultural definition of "black". But he's also got enough "white" in him to make him seem comfortable to whites, at least subconciously.
Factor no. 4: Up until l'affaire Geffen, the junior senator from Illinois avoided appearing hostile to his opponents--he could be reasonably credited with taking the lofty approach to things. He simply appeared as the nice personable intelligent man you could sit down with and have a polite discussion, even if you didn't agree with his opinions. Also it doesn't hurt that he probably is better looking than any of the other candidates to whom the MSM pays attention (including the former senator from North Carolina).
Factor no. 5: The junior senator from Illinois doesn't have to explain away anything about a vote for war in Iraq, since he was not yet in the Senate. Even to Democrats of the senator from Connecticut category, he could be acceptable, because he's not equivocating. No Kerryesque beachwear for him, at least on this issue. He was against it before he was against it.
But it's eleven months before anyone actually votes for any of the damned pack. I'm not laying odds on anyone right now. Even the junior senator from New York.
Posted by: Jeffrey Quick
Posted on: February 28, 2007 02:25 PM
Re Factor #2: That's why the 'Pugs have to draft Condoleeza. "Two - two - two oppressed peoples in one!"