Half a lifetime ago, way back at the beginning of the campaign, I recall a brief segment at that time on Hardball, before I pretty much swore off watching it. My memory is pretty hazy about that segment. I don't recall who the participants were who were paired off to debate the issue, but the Obama surrogate was a reverend, if I recall, while the other side was taken by some now-anonymous pundit. The issue was something about sex education in school. Obama's position was being ridiculously distorted, and the pundit was terribly exercised about the whole thing. She ranted and raved, while the reverend sat silent and calm. Occasionally, he would be called upon, and all he ever really did was restate Obama's very sensible position, in calm and non-defensive terms. The pundit raved on, and eventually the winner of the debate became self-evident, and the quiet confidence of the reverend was all that was needed. The pundit had been allowed to simply dig herself in a hole. I started to smile as I realized that the Obama campaign would be something that Chris Mathews might not be able to understand, but I did, and I felt strangely moved. I didn't have any thrills up my leg, but nonetheless it made an impression.
Barack Obama has a lot to talk about with the people of Pennsylvania, and to those of North Carolina and Indiana, and a few more. He's got some time now to put forward a serious message, and he can say it in his own way while the other side just keeps on digging that hole. If we've decided that we can believe in the American people, now's the time to really put that faith into practice. Let's help Obama just get the message out, stay "on point", and not be distracted by lowbrow stunts and political ploys. We've come so far, and we've made such progress, and it's been the kind of campaign Obama has wanted to run. It ain't broke at all, so don't fix it. They've got a long time to rant on the other side, and, trust me, they're digging deeper into that hole every time they open their mouths.
If you haven't heard Keith Olbermann's Special Comment tonight, use this link to watch it now:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23601329#23601329
The integrity of this campaign is shining through, and good Americans, even those who have been friends with the Clintons as long as Keith Olbermann has, can't help but see it. We will have the defenders we need. Just play it straight.
I would have much preferred to just win this campaign on the issues. The trouble is, that's exactly what we were doing, and that's why we're ducking the kitchen sink now. We can't let it succeed, and we can't allow ourselves to become the very thing we're trying to put an end to in Washington. Senator Obama hasn't faltered, and I hope that none of you do either. We need hope, but hope is part of a three-point plan: faith, hope, and charity, and the greatest of these, as they say, is charity.
I'm writing this to myself as much as to you. I've become as angry as Olbermann in some of his classic Special Comments, although in the one above it seems not so much anger as pain. I need to do a little thinking about the three-point plan, and I hope you do as well.
Remember that terrible time a few months ago when a gunman wreaked havoc in an Amish village? Do you remember the lessons we learned about real Christian charity from those Amish? I'm trying to find a little of that in myself right now, even though I'd rather find a Hillary supporter and start punching it out. I think we need to find that charity right now even more than we need to win this election, because when it starts to matter more than the three-point plan, well, you see what sort of thing can happen.
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