Tuesday, June 03, 2008

And the Election Battle begins

Now that Obama has sewn up the democratic nomination, all the conjecture shifts to whether he will choose Hillary as a VP running mate. This is the first of many decisions that he will make and will afford the public an opportunity to see just how he deals with the realities of politics. If he choses Hillary, he will assume all the baggage that the Clintons bring to the election and worse still, it will bring Bill back into the limelight where he thrives. On the other hand, if Obama succeeds in upstaging Hillary and picking another candidate he will loss many of the women that chose to support Hillary. This places him in a unique position that he has avoided like the plague since entering politics. That is, making a commitment that is both public and traceable. Up to now he has walked softly and left no footprints that can identify him, at least in a political sense. From here on out, his demeanor, innuendos, and statements become pubic domain and subject to scrupulous review. This is all well and good because this man has the depth of character of a paper cutout. He poses himself as an agent of "change" without defining the nature of the change. While in the US Senate he did not distinguish himself as anything other than the most liberal senator in the chamber. The legions of Obama followers have written their own meanings on the blank slate of "change" that he offers. The fallacy in this approach is that there are more dreams than realities imprinted on his slate and there will be many disappointed followers in the aftermath of his presumed election.
There is another aspect to this election that bears observation, up to now about 30%+/- of the eligible voters have participated in his success. That leaves 70% that have yet to approve his ascendancy to the throne. Up to now he has been preaching to the choir and now he has to go out amongst the unwashed infidels who will view him with more skepticism than his sycophants. With any luck they will see what he really is, a Sunday preacher who rants to his followers about evil and then goes out on Monday to join in with his political buddies in doing what they always do. After all he is nothing more than a Chicago politician with a dark skin.