Once again, win or lose, I like to hear Obama speak. I love what he has to say, I like the way he says it. His agenda, as he describes it, is unabashedly liberal, but he speaks in a way that acknowledges and includes Republicans. The Republicans built a majority in the South by finding issues that not only appealed to the poor, they actually convinced them that tax cuts for the wealthy are in their interest. It feels like Obama is speaking to people – not on the issues of the culture wars, but on the unabashedly liberal ideas that most people can get behind. “And will never use 9-11 to scare up votes”. Bravo! Climate change, poverty, getting out of Iraq. Core issues, but ones that the “mainstream” seems afraid to talk about.
Obama really represents the sort of post-ethnic internationalism that has always appealed to me. His speech is intensely nationalistic – “we are one people”…and yet, he says it in a way that does not make those of us who are not Americans feel excluded. And that’s something that sets Obama apart from every other American politician I have ever heard (except maybe Al Gore).
Filed under: Politics
