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Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 2973
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: 
Votes: 5 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 03:07 am: | 
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Obama's Campaign: An Emotional Escape Hatch from the Bush Era
By Barbara Ehrenreich, Barbaraehrenreich.com
Posted on February 16, 2008, Printed on February 17, 2008
When did you begin to think that Obama might be unstoppable? Was it when your grown feminist daughter started weeping inconsolably over his defeat in New Hampshire? Or was it when he triumphed in Virginia, a state still littered with Confederate monuments and memorabilia? For me, it was on Tuesday night when two Republican Virginians in a row called CSPAN radio to report that they'd just voted for Ron Paul, but, in the general election, would vote for ... Obama.
In the dominant campaign narrative, his appeal is mysterious and irrational: He's a "rock star," all flash and no substance, tending dangerously, according to the New York Times' Paul Krugman, to a "cult of personality." At best, he's seen as another vague Reagan-esque avatar of Hallmarkian sentiments like optimism and hope. While Clinton, the designated valedictorian, reaches out for the ego and super-ego, he supposedly goes for the id. She might as well be promoting choral singing in the face of Beatlemania.
The Clinton coterie is wringing its hands. Should she transform herself into an economic populist, as Paul Begala pleaded on Tuesday night? This would be a stretch, given her technocratic and elitist approach to health reform in 1993, her embarrassing vote for a credit card company-supported bankruptcy bill in 2001, among numerous other lapses. Besides, Obama already just leaped out in front of her with a resoundingly populist economic program on Wednesday.
Or should she reconfigure herself, untangle her triangulations, and attempt to appeal to the American people in some deep human way, with or without a tear or two? This, too, would take heavy lifting. Someone needs to tell her that there are better ways to signal conviction than by raising one's voice and drawing out the vowels, as in "I KNOW ..." and "I BELIEVE ..." The frozen smile has to go too, along with the metronymic nodding, which sometimes goes on long enough to suggest a placement within the autism spectrum.
But I don't think any tweakings of the candidate or her message will work, and not because Obama-mania is an occult force or a kind of mass hysteria. Let's take seriously what he offers, which is "change." The promise of "change" is what drives the Obama juggernaut, and "change" means wanting out of wherever you are now. It can even mean wanting out so badly that you don't much care, as in the case of the Ron Paul voters cited above, exactly what that change will be. In reality, there's no mystery about the direction in which Obama might take us: He's written a breathtakingly honest autobiography; he has a long legislative history, and now, a meaty economic program. But no one checks the weather before leaping out of a burning building.
Consider our present situation. Thanks to Iraq and water-boarding, Abu Ghraib and the "rendering" of terror suspects, we've achieved the moral status of a pariah nation. The seas are rising. The dollar is sinking. A growing proportion of Americans have no access to health care; an estimated 18,000 die every year for lack of health insurance. Now, as the economy staggers into recession, the financial analysts are wondering only whether the rest of the world is sufficiently "de-coupled" from the US economy to survive our demise.
Clinton can put forth all the policy proposals she likes -- and many of them are admirable ones -- but anyone can see that she's of the same generation and even one of the same families that got us into this checkmate situation in the first place. True, some people miss Bill, although the nostalgia was severely undercut by his anti-Obama rhetoric in South Carolina, or maybe they just miss the internet bubble he happened to preside over. But even more people find dynastic successions distasteful, especially when it's a dynasty that produced so little by way of concrete improvements in our lives. Whatever she does, the semiotics of her campaign boils down to two words -- "same old."
Obama is different, really different, and that in itself represents "change." A Kenyan-Kansan with roots in Indonesia and multiracial Hawaii, he seems to be the perfect answer to the bumper sticker that says, "I love you America, but isn't it time to start seeing other people?" As conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan has written, Obama's election could mean the re-branding of America. An anti-war black president with an Arab-sounding name: See, we're not so bad after all, world!
So yes, there's a powerful emotional component to Obama-mania, and not just because he's a far more inspiring speaker than his rival. We, perhaps white people especially, look to him for atonement and redemption. All of us, of whatever race, want a fresh start. That's what "change" means right now: Get us out of here!
Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of thirteen books, including the New York Times bestseller Nickel and Dimed. A frequent contributor to the New York Times, Harpers, and the Progressive, she is a contributing writer to Time magazine. She lives in Florida
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 11542
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 11:47 am: |
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 The typical blather of an insipid white person.
What happens if "change" is brought about and it turns out to be for the worse? "Change" is such sappy ambiguous word. But it does seem to send intelligent people into a state of euphoria. Just like a mind-altering drug.
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Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 9928
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 05:15 pm: |
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If find it quite stupid that supporting Obama is being characterized as some form of mania. This is just the press, spunned by the urgings of Obama's competition, trying to create a non-story out the crack out of their a$$es. |
Ferociouskitty
Regular Poster
Username: Ferociouskitty
Post Number: 31
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: 
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 05:56 pm: |
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I wonder if people have gotten so used to apathy and cynicism (no diss, Ms. Cynique :-)) where politics and politicians are concerned, that enthusiasm and fervor can only be recognized as mania.
As Michelle O. reminded us, Obama has feet of clay, as a man, and for sure, I believe, as a politician. I think one can understand that and still be enthusiastic about his campaign--whether because of his platform, because he's One of Us (as Cynique has put forth), or both. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 11547
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 06:14 pm: |
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Except maybe for Hitler, never before has any candidate for office ever inspired such an epidemic of adulation and enthusiasm. And much of this reaction is inflamed by oratory. It is "mania" when just the mention of the word "change" sends people in to paroxysms of ecstacy.
And the denial continues. "I'm not voting for Obama because he's black or messianic. I'm voting for him because he'd make a good president". Yeah, right. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 9934
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 06:24 pm: |
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Ferociouskitty,
Haters hate. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 11549
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 06:32 pm: |
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 It takes a hater to know one. ®  (abm) |
Ferociouskitty
Regular Poster
Username: Ferociouskitty
Post Number: 35
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 06:41 pm: |
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Alright, Rubber and Glue--cut it out! LOLOLOL... |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 11551
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 07:03 pm: |
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Hope I'm Rubber. Because I like to erase the illusions people could get glued to.  |
Urban_scribe
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Urban_scribe
Post Number: 663
Registered: 05-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 07:09 pm: |
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If find it quite stupid that supporting Obama is being characterized as some form of mania.
Now this I agree with. I, too, think it's rather silly to characterize support for BO as "mania". Historically, voters have always been passionate about the candidate they'd like to see as POTUS. I don't see how this is any different. Perhaps because gender and race have come into play in this election, on a plain never before witnessed, some debates appear to tread a grey area between ardent support and obsession. I think Black women in particular are caught in the crossfire of this election. Do Black women feel more loyalty toward their gender or toward their race? This is the first time in this country's history that Black women ever were made to question such loyalties on a national and most public level. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 11553
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 07:23 pm: |
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I will simply say that I have lived through 11 different presidents, starting with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and when I cast my vote in this upcoming election it will be the 13th time I have voted in a presidential election, and I have never seen the kind of manic response to a candidate or the momentum it is generating in any other campaign down through the years. And the fact that it come from a broad spectrum of the population ignites this impression even more. Yes, the media and the internet do fuel the fire, but that doesn't stop it from being mania! |
Doberman23
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Doberman23
Post Number: 1185
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 07:39 pm: |
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i don't know cynique regan had a whole hell of a lot of love thrown his way. hell i was in like kindergarten and i was like yay regan, because i didn't know any better. hell he's dead and people are still riding his nutts. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 11556
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 08:06 pm: |
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Reagan's name has always been an anathema to black voters and he got very little support or love from Blacks, and Independents and liberal women. To many his name is synonymous with the interests of rich white men. And nowadays most of the people revering his memory and his trickle down economics are Republicans. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 9937
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 08:19 pm: |
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Urban_scribe,
If Barack were a White man and Hillary a Black women, do you think that Black men should feel "torn" between issues of gender versus race?
Dobes: "hell i was in like kindergarten and i was like yay [Reagan], because i didn't know any better."
Man. You sure have a way of crackin' me the fuhk up.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 11558
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 08:22 pm: |
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I said all of that to say that Reagan's appeal was never wide-spread. He never inspired the kind of fever among all segments of the population like Obama does. |
Urban_scribe
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Urban_scribe
Post Number: 664
Registered: 05-2006
Rating:
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 09:52 pm: |
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If Barack were a White man and Hillary a Black women, do you think that Black men should feel "torn" between issues of gender versus race?
Well, we've seen this scenario previously, when Shirley Chisholm ran for POTUS. And we all know the outcome of that...
But that doesn't really answer what I think, does it? IMO, I don't think Black men would choose a Black woman for POTUS over a White male. And no, I don't think they would feel "torn" in their decision for a few reasons:
(1) most men (of any race) refuse to take orders or even friendly advice from a woman (of any race), and the mere idea of having a woman in charge is so undesirable to so many men that they'd nip any chance of that happening at the onset
(2) even today, in the 21st century, most men don't feel that a woman has the cajones to run a country, and to make "masculine" decisions i.e., declaring war against a country where thousands of women and children are very likely to lose their lives. They argue that women's "maternal instincts" prevent them from making the "tough" decisions, or that women are too emotional, think with their hearts rather than their heads
(3) believe it or not, there still are many men, in this day and age, who believe a woman's place is in the home; cooking, cleaning, and raising kids
(4) and, believe it or not, there still exist men who are gentlemen, who want to keep all women out of harm's way, who believe women ought to be handled delicately and shielded from all ugliness in the world
I'll tell you a true story I witnessed about 2 years ago. Some kid (about 15-17) robbed a bodega. As he ran out the bodega, a female cop was coming out the pizzeria next door. Lotta yelling and screaming and cussing going on. She assessed the situation and started chasing after the kid. Three guys from the bodega stopped her from chasing the boy - because they thought HE might hurt HER. Mind you, SHE was the one with the GUN. But they didn't see a cop, they saw a WOMAN.
Another true story, I was 14 and my uncle was driving me and my cousin (his daughter) to a sleepover (one of our friend's had a sleepover for her 13th b-day). My uncle blew a stop sign and outta nowhere came this patrol car. Female officer approached the driver's side. Of course she asked him, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" My uncle said something like: I don't give a damn why you pulled me over, I'm just happy as hell you did because you are phuckin GORGEOUS! Make sure you show up in court cuz after I plead guilty and pay the summons, me and you are going on a date.
She giggled, let him off with a verbal warning, and got back in her patrol car. As my uncle pulled off, he said something I'll never forget, "That's why women shouldn't be cops." D'you think he would've (or could've) said that to a MALE police officer? But he didn't see a cop, he saw a woman; and knew he could use her femininity against her. I've lived long enough to know that my uncle isn't the only man with that sort of mentality. |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2660
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 09:43 am: |
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I don't think Black men would choose a Black woman for POTUS over a White male
I wonder: Would most Black women make such a choice? |
Ferociouskitty
Regular Poster
Username: Ferociouskitty
Post Number: 36
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 09:56 am: |
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Yvette:
Depends on the woman, depends on the man.
That would be a toughie for some Black women, I believe--if, for example, the woman was Condi and the man were Bill Clinton before he showed his ass. |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2661
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 10:10 am: |
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I dunno, FK. It's easy to say "it depends." I know you must have a stronger opinion than that. Take a leap. Come on! I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours... ;-) |
Ferociouskitty
Regular Poster
Username: Ferociouskitty
Post Number: 37
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 10:51 am: |
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I wouldn't automatically vote for a black woman just because she's black. I wouldn't vote for Star Parker, for example. Now...Condi vs. Bill circa 1990s: Bill. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 9940
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 01:58 pm: |
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Urban_Scribe,
There still is lots of what you describe going. Still, I find your opinions to be ironic, give those who inspire this discussion. Because did you know that 10 years ago the current position Barack Obama holds in the US was occupied by a Black WOMAN, Carol Moseley-Braun? And did you know that her campaign manager, PR manager, finance manager were all Black MEN? And did you know Black men (and women) voted for Mosely-Braun over her White male competitors during both the 1992 U.S Senate Democratic primary and general elections +4:1?
There are MYRIAD examples of how Black men quite comfortably following the lead of Black women. In relation to their numbers, there are WAAAAY more Black women leading positions in politics (there are MORE Black female city council members in the city of Chicago than there are Black men and there are about as many female members of the US Congressional Black Caucus as there are males), businesses and churches over men than there are are any OTHER races of Americans. |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2666
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 02:38 pm: |
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OK, FK, I'm going to go out on a limb and say: generally, I think a Black female presidential candidate would have as some of her harshest critics other Black female voters. Perhaps, no matter who her opponent was, but certainly against a man of any race, IMO. |
Ferociouskitty
Regular Poster
Username: Ferociouskitty
Post Number: 38
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 05:19 pm: |
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Yvette: Why do you think black women would be her harshest critics? |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 9945
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 08:31 pm: |
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Ferociouskitty,
I don't know if this answers your question. But one thing I've noticed is almost NONE of the Black women I am closest to like Michelle Obama. It's almost like they think that SHE'S going to blow it for Barack.
It's the wierdest thing... |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2672
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 09:59 pm: |
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Yes, FK, my sense is similar to what ABM has observed. I find Black women in other contexts to be hypercritical of other Black women, particularly ones in power. I think a Black female POTUS candidate might be scrutinized almost to excess by other Black women: her hair, how she dresses, what her background is, is she too dark or too light. If she had the type of educational background as Obama (or HRC, for that matter) that alone would be cause for suspicion--does she think she is better than me/us, etc. etc. Older Black women who might feel pride at the high educational accomplishments of a Black male might scoff at the same level of achievement in a Black woman. THen there is her family status: were she single that would be immediate cause for suspicion (note: C. Rice). But she'd have no less scrutiny if she were married.
I cannot say for sure that this is how it would play out in the political realm. But I have seen and heard of this kind of this in other areas too many times to discount it.
I guess the academic answer would be that Black women would have to overcome both internalized racism and internalized sexism to support another Black woman against a man.
I'd love it if I were wrong, however. I think I told you that I feel your eldest is well on her way to the White House. Maybe things will have changed by then!  |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2673
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 10:05 pm: |
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Also, ABM, the history you relate about support for Mosley Braun is interesting. Minneapolis's former mayor, Sharon Sayles Belton, was a little before my time. (Actually, my time overlapped with her term but I was not here for her election to office.) I keep saying I am going to do a little research on that. I wonder if the same pattern as you describe was in play. Of course here you are talking about a Black population that is no where near what it is in Chicago... |
Ferociouskitty
Regular Poster
Username: Ferociouskitty
Post Number: 39
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 11:57 pm: |
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Yvette (and ABM):
I guess I'm hopeful (naive?) that black women's petty sniping and what-not would not crossover into the political realm if presented with a strong, viable black female candidate.
Damn. Remember when we used to be happy just to see black people on TV, lol??? I guess in this respect, I long for those days. Not that I presume that black women will or should vote for such a candidate because she is a black woman, but I do hope that we would be able to transcend the silly stuff that keeps us at each other's throats long enough to consider the candidate's attributes and platform. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 9948
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - 12:23 am: |
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Yvettep,
It's sad and unfortunate what happened with Moseley-Braun. She was definitely a rising star on the national stage. But she she made some mistakes (I think, due to her lacking cash) that her adversaries were able to use to take her down. Ironically, had things broke differently for Carol MOST Americans might never had heard of a Barack (Hussein) Obama.
Ferociouskitty,
I'm often started at the level of catfighting amongst Black women. Still, I believe Black women (and men) would support a sista whom they felt had the stuff to be president, especially if - like Obama - she appeared to ELECTABLE. |
Ferociouskitty
Regular Poster
Username: Ferociouskitty
Post Number: 42
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - 01:01 am: |
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Yvette: I'd love it if I were wrong, however. I think I told you that I feel your eldest is well on her way to the White House. Maybe things will have changed by then! :-)
LOL...interestingly, many months ago, when we first started talking about the election, I told her about Obama and Hillary. She said she would "Vote for the woman because we've always had boy presidents."
Fast forward many months of campaigning, and now she's all for Obama. I asked her why, and she just shrugged and said, "Daddy said he's on the right track."
Now, this is the same child who did not want me to talk to neighbors who had Bush signs in their yard during the 2004 election. Same child who had a Kerry button on her backpack in kindergarten. Same child who explained elections this way in 2004: "Before you vote, these guys makes speeches. Kerry says, 'Vote for me and I'll give you beautiful homes and beautiful toys and beautiful food.' And Bush says, 'I love war!'"
She cried when her dad (who clearly has had a change of heart, if not party affiliation) told her that he voted for Bush back then.
So...who knows? She might just be on the ticket in 2033. |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2674
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - 10:08 am: |
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She might just be on the ticket in 2033.
Well, I am so there! "Mini in '33!" |
Moonsigns
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Moonsigns
Post Number: 2053
Registered: 07-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - 11:31 am: |
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Support. Mania. Call it whatever. I just want Obama to be the next President! |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 11686
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - 01:08 pm: |
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Finally Moonsigns and a-womon agree on something. Egads! Obama is truly a miracle worker! |
Yvettep
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Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2703
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - 01:52 pm: |
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Well he says he is a uniter... Now, if he gets you and Chris on the same page, I'll really be scurred of him LOL! |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 11691
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - 09:41 pm: |
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Yep. If Obama could get me and chrishayden on the same page, then even I would look for him to start walking on water.  |
Ferociouskitty
Regular Poster
Username: Ferociouskitty
Post Number: 79
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - 11:13 pm: |
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Look what Obama did to this poor woman:
(courtesy of Field Negro's blog) |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 11694
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - 11:44 pm: |
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