Originally posted by: daveshel
Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
Thats OK all the threads the Op has started lately smacks of somebody whose stull in elementary school!!
Ah, the erudite commentary that makes ATP&N the place to be for insightful discussions.
Like much of the US, I was introduced to Obama at the DNC Convention 4 years ago. I was moved by his speech. I thought then that he was better spoken than the candidates, and hoped he would run for president someday. And last fall I was thinking he was running too soon.
But the thing that has enabled him to gain such momentum is the perception that he represents the possibility of much needed change among a field of business-as-usual me-too candidates. I'm not sure I'd get out of bed to vote in an election between Clinton and McCain: sure, they seem to represent different ends of the spectrum, but I don't see any meaningful possibility that either will solve the country's biggest problems.
Neither will be able to mend the damage done in the last 7 years to the fiscal fortunes of the US, nor the stacking of the Supreme Court. And as for the monumental challenge of repairing the goodwill of the rest of the world toward the US, even Bush and Cheney's heads on pikes for a generation won't help there.
Can Obama do any better? Probably not. But the fact that he has not had time to become a jaded insider goes a long way. To me he offers hope in a time of hopelessness, and this, dennilfloss, is why I disagree with you.