So, last night I'm watching the first night of the Democratic National Convention on CNN. I'm usually not one to pay much heed to the commentators on these things.. . perhaps they're right that Night One should have seen more "attack" from the Dems regarding George Bush. That always goes well with me, after all. . . .
But one of the things that so many of them were talking about were that "the nations voters don't seem to 'know' Barack Obama and his family well". . . . They were saying things like:
"The voters want to know what kind of neighbor he'd be, if he's the kind of guy they'd invite to a bbq or have out for a beer. . . this is important to voters. This gives them an idea of the 'kind of guy' they're voting for. . . ."
WTF? What, am I back in high school? Last I checked I stopped voting for ASB Presidents as an undergrad. We're talking about the President of the EFFING UNITED STATES!
First of all, how anyone can reasonably wonder what kind of "neighbors" the Obamas would be is beyond me. The man wrote a book called the Audacity of Hope. Can no one take any indications from that? He wears an unbuttoned collar on his shirt with a navy blue jacket-- no tie in less formal, outdoor appearances. Does that tell you nothing? He plays basketball. . . rather well.
Sounds like he'd be like most neighbors in the U.S.: Reasonably private, but willing to help put on the block party if you asked, and more than willing to help repaint an elderly ladies house if it badly needed it. If you got to know him and his wife, they'd probably be willing to share babysitting and meal making duties among the other busy families in the neighborhood. Again. . . he'd probably be like most "good neighbors" in the U.S. What makes you think he'd be any different?
But even more than that:
I'M SICK AND TIRED OF PEOPLE BBQ VOTING! Don't you think that's what got us into the mess that is the last 8 years? Don't you think that most middle-America voters looked at George Bush and Al Gore/John Kerry and went. . . . "well, I'd be more likely to enjoy a beer with W. than with those other two douche-bags. . . those other two schmucks would just lecture me on the environment and health care, and who wants to hear that in a bar after a long day's work? So, I'll vote for the dumb guy. . . he'd be less likely to make me feel stupid if we were at a BBQ together."
I sincerely believe, that on a subconscious level, that's what people were thinking. This guy won't make me feel stupid, so I'll vote for him. Just like people did when they voted the Jock in as Prom King.
But I'm done with being tolerant of that. . . subconscious or not. It's time to start voting for people who are willing to tackle the tough stuff that this country is facing. People who have the long-view of this world and what it needs. And people who know that this country has serious problems and it needs serious people to solve them (in the words of Michael Douglas in The American President).
I don't give a shit which one of them would be more popular at a BBQ. I want someone interested in being a good leader on a global scale.
