He's shown that he is a contender with a difference, one that many Americans are yearning for - change. Now the question becomes whether the fire Barak Obama sparked in Iowa will burn out or spread into a wildfire sweeping the nation?
Until last night I thought that America would have to settle for Ms. Expedience, HIllary Clinton. She had the money, the corporate backing, and she had Bill. Then she hit the wall. Losing to Obama was one thing but coming third behind John Edwards was the crushing blow.
Politics is always as much about perception as anything and the American perception of Hillary has been blunted right at the first gate. It's the image of Hillary Clinton that American voters had in their minds when they went to bed last night that will dog her throughout the rest of the campaign.
The independents and young people who turned out to support Obama may be the most important part of the primary. New blood among the electorate can be just as critical as new vision in the leadership, particularly for a nation that has fallen so far to the right (with the predictable consequences).
America's problems can't be fixed from the right. The ever widening gap between rich and poor, growing poverty levels, the demise of the middle class, inequitable tax burdens, crippling debts and deficits, so many others - all caused by the excesses and greed of the far right.
America's problems can't be fixed from the right and they won't be fixed from the "status quo" centre either. Those independents and young voters who flocked to Obama's side last night know that. Those young people see what lies in store for them and for their children if the rapacious ways of the far right aren't reversed.
America's problems can only be fixed from the centre-left. The country needs to be pulled back from its precipitous perch at the far right and to do that will take the effort and energy found only at the centre-left, not the muddled lethargy already seen in the centrist Democratic congress of Reid and Pelosi - and Hillary Clinton.
Does this mean America is going to get the executive leadership it so badly needs? Not necessarily. There is a lot of energy left in Hillary Clinton, a lot of money left in her treasury to splash around, a lot of markers to be called in - by her and by Bill. These may be more than the grassroots wave that now carries Obama can clear.
Both Clinton and Obama have a great deal to lose in New Hampshire. If Hillary doesn't reverse Iowa her prospects after that will be dim indeed. This is the candidate whom fully half of voters polled said they would never support, the candidate whom a number of polls have also shown would lose to each and every Republican running for the GOP nomination. If Hillary loses New Hampshire, even Bill won't be able to rescue her.
For Obama, New Hampshire is an opportunity to repeat the independent and youth vote miracle of Iowa. That would enormously reinforce his standing among both critical groups and greatly increase the likelihood of being able to call them out in all the primaries that remain. By getting them he makes Hillary the candidate of the old, feeble, failed Democratic Party, almost banished to irrelevance.
2 comments:
what the point here is this...remember kerry 4 years ago, the man fought in vietnam, was a good soldier and was basically called a coward and they found people who could attest to this, even though it was a lie, bush didnt say, stop it, so on,,,so heres my point, if obama wins the democratic nomination is there anough people in america who would vote for a black man...I say no...therefore handing the presidency to the republicans,,and with a name like hussien, what do you think they will do...just like kerry, someone outside the republican party will attack him with full force...again handing the white house to whoever win the republican nomination...and beware if it mackain, remember he thinks the war is right, bush was right...so on...so barrack hussein obama is a loosing cause, even though I think the man has good idea, and would be a good president...
You could very well be right although, like you, I sure hope not. Obama and Clinton are both trying to break the mold and no one will know until we're much further into the primaries if the American voter is willing to accept either a woman or a black. That said I'm optimistic that American voters are hungry for change and, like the youth vote, see that Obama is neither radical nor the same old deal. By the way, I was in favour of Edwards but I am moved by the impetus shown by Obama.
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