For my first post I had hoped to write something a little upbeat, or perhaps, gloating about the way Barack Obama has left Hillary Clinton in the dust. But then today's news articles sounded a warning, one that should come as no surprise. Specifically it seems that after weeks of non-stop adulation from the press, the honeymoon with Barack Obama may be over for some journalists. Now that they've built up our candidate, it's time for them, at least some of them anyway, to do what so often is done by our media and start taking whacks at him. Some very pointed shots were fired across the bow this morning by Robert Samuelson in today's Washington Post. Read it here.
My reaction to this, though, is "so what?" And that's got me in a fighting mood.
First off, let me say I think Samuelson is full of it. He says our agenda is narrow and partisan. Well, I guess if a middle class tax cut is "partisan" then fine, guilty as charged. If tax relief for the working poor is partisan, go ahead and lay that on us too. While you're at it buddy, whine about our health care plan that doesn't include a mandate. Sheesh. So much for Samuelson and his "on inspection" comment. If he had spent even 15 minutes at barackobama.com reading position papers he would know better.
But here's the real issue. As I see it, we all knew it would start to come to this at some point. Obama has been racing downhill in the campaign marathon of late. But sooner or later the uphill comes (I can't help but think of it this way as I am a marathon runner myself). Those of us who've been involved in campaigns before know it and we're ready for it. I have no doubt Barack Obama is ready for it, too.
The basic flaw in the analyses of these self-appointed party-poopers is that they are steeped in the same "experience" conceit that Hillary Clinton has. They think of experience as really meaning "experience in the Washington parlor game." For them, Obama simply hasn't rubbed his nose in it long enough, so therefore he must be naive or unprepared. Never mind the work he did in the community for years, cutting through all sorts of red tape and BS to get things done for some people really in need. That doesn't matter to these people.
But it does matter to us. Those of us who live in the real world and know that politics, while it can be honorable, is not the only way to serve. Those of us who know that sincerity and ethics matter even more than being able to lie, spin or otherwise game the political system in order to win. Those of who know that solutions are not simply poll-tested and then rolled out with fanfare, they are borne out of years of confronting problems forthrightly and ethically, and building support from the bottom up.
As our campaign heads uphill, there will be many attempts to trip it up, slow it down and even mortally wound it. To those thinking about it I say bring it on, because we are more than ready to prove our mettle. You think we can't. Oh, yes, we can.
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