To be fair to Senator Obama, he is intelligent, literate, and immensely charismatic. I play the "I can't remember," but bits of the speech I attended did stick in my mind: he was clear on what he could and couldn't do, and he was upfront that there were things he couldn't do. He wouldn't be a perfect president. But he has his ideals in what a lot of people feel are the right places: he spoke on education, healthcare, partisan boundaries, foreign policy, foreign aid, and I remember that I didn't agree with him on every point, but there was enough I did agree with.
And, yeah, a lot of it is stuff everyone says--affordable health care, ending the "war". And I have serious doubts that he'll really manage to get health care for all by the end of the first term, given conditions in the Senate, and all. But what's so staggeringly attractive isn't the policy, it's the attitude. He's fiery, he's humanistic, he's coming out of a tradition that most of our politicians aren't, and he can instill a sense that fixing America isn't a losing battle. And, honestly, at this point, I think a candidate who can make people excited, make people care, might do a lot more good than someone who knows all the Washington tricks.
There's a pretty good speech up here: http://www.youdecide2008.com/2007/12/08/video-oprahs-entire-speech-for-obama-from-iowa/ if you'd like to check it out. (Though, on my comp, it cuts weirdly into static. It could be in the actual recording. Or, er, it could be Silent Hill saying it needs me for someone.) Or you could look for Obama on YouTube, I suppose.
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And, yeah, a lot of it is stuff everyone says--affordable health care, ending the "war". And I have serious doubts that he'll really manage to get health care for all by the end of the first term, given conditions in the Senate, and all. But what's so staggeringly attractive isn't the policy, it's the attitude. He's fiery, he's humanistic, he's coming out of a tradition that most of our politicians aren't, and he can instill a sense that fixing America isn't a losing battle. And, honestly, at this point, I think a candidate who can make people excited, make people care, might do a lot more good than someone who knows all the Washington tricks.
There's a pretty good speech up here:
http://www.youdecide2008.com/2007/12/08/video-oprahs-entire-speech-for-obama-from-iowa/
if you'd like to check it out. (Though, on my comp, it cuts weirdly into static. It could be in the actual recording. Or, er, it could be Silent Hill saying it needs me for someone.) Or you could look for Obama on YouTube, I suppose.