Sarah Palin has been telling anyone who will listen that Barack Obama is "not like us." The Republican rallies are becoming increasingly venomous. Barack Obama's middle name--Hussein--is used as a slur, to prove his differentness, and to foster the idea that he somehow has ties to the Arab world, and by extension, terrorism. It's working. Audience members shout that he should be killed, that he is a terrorist. Even uniformed police officers, who should know better, fan the flames.
I became an Obama supporter during the primaries. It wasn't that he had extensive experience--though I was impressed by the people from whom he had sought advice--or that he had a crackerjack plan to offer. It was that he ran a clean, dignified campaign in spite of the provocation to do otherwise.
He focused on his vision, what he wanted to accomplish, and if he was light on details, at least the details he offered weren't designed to discredit his opponents through side issues. And while it won him my admiration, it cost him. The pundits said that he needed to "get tougher," that he could not win without resorting to dirty tricks. I hoped they were wrong.
