During the last 36 hours, I’ve watched a lot of political news. It’s fairly unavoidable anyway, but I do seek it out, preferring the all news channels (real news channels, not FAUX news) to the reruns and pathetic programming on network TV. The presidential election fascinates me. I’m a bit of a frustrated campaign message director, always nearly spitting mad that some of the campaigns do such stupid things.
Brief break – In the interest of being open, let’s remember here that I am a Democrat, born and raised.
Last night, I watched a news clip of our dearly beloved former President, Mr Bill, as he stood up for his wife and said something that caused a reaction in me somewhere between complete disbelief and utter aggravation. One of the spins that the Clinton campaign came up with over the past weekend for Obama’s win last week and what looked like a win coming in New Hampshire was to blame the media! The irony of that statement is kind of appalling. And don’t be mislead here, I like Mr Bill a lot. Favorite President so far. But that kind of spin really irritates me. I expect better of them.
For the previous almost 12 months, American media organizations have held Hillary up as the crowned frontrunner for the Democratic nomination – without a vote ever happening. For at least a year, every media outlet has made giant leaping assumptions that Hillary was the one, the only one, there was hardly any point in anyone even taking her on.
And I think that annoys a lot of us who don’t want to be told who our nominee will be, but want to make our choice when it’s time to vote.
And once Hillary announced, her fundrai$ing went according to the media projections, and she became the fundrai$ing leader. And once that happened, Hillary seemed to take on a presumptive air that she would be the one, she was the only possibility. Everything Hillary has said, every speech, has come across with an air of arrogance, expectation, and presumption. She comes across as if she is entitled to the Presidency (which is also a problem I see with McCain, but that’s another story altogether). By the way, even Hillary’s choked-up response yesterday came across as a bit staged and inauthentic.
But the independents, the students, the younger voters came out to caucuses in Iowa to stand up and assert their points of view. And they put Barack Obama in the lead.
What is a real leader? A person with a vision, an inspirational person who can share that vision with others, someone who can lift others up. Real heart. Smart. Articulate (dear God, please let our next President be smart and articulate – I don’t think the US can survive another bumbling boob as President). Dedicated to the cause, not to the position. Authentic. Right now, that person is Barack Obama.
We enjoy his smarts. We thrill to his inspirational message. We value his authenticity. We feel his desire to improve the country and the government of this country, not just get the job.
I would say Hillary needs to take some lessons from Barack – but I don’t think that she could pull it off, even if she took the lessons. Because you can’t learn authenticity. Real is real.
Not so fast, Mrs. Clinton. Barack’s biting at your heels.
PS – I’ll still vote for her if she’s the nominee!
Seeing Red, Bleeding Blue, Feeling Green 