I suppose some folks have already counted the number of people who tuned into the Obama/GOP talkfest over the weekend, as compared to the number who watched Beyoncé sweep the Grammys (I suppose there may be some overlap). The same counters can probably also tell you which Americans think Obama is a socialist and which think Sarah Palin is better qualified to be President.
You guessed: I watched the talk fest. Not all of it, I guess; I had it up on YouTube while I was filing papers and then I had MSNBC on screen while I did some housework. I think I saw enough so I can chime in with an opinion: it was a stupendous performance, Clinton without the rambling digressions, a wonk's wonkery for the ages. Better qualified? Well, yes.
But now that that's out of the way, let's take a deep breath and remind ourselves that wonkery is almost entirely beside the point. To win another election, Obama has to figure out some way to do what he doesn't seem yet to have learned how to do: to define an issue, to mobilize the indifferent masses and (perhaps this is the most important) to strike fear in the hearts of his enemies.
All the time I was watching the talkfest, I kept muttering "but it doesn't matter." Later I heard Rachel Maddow say that he "mobilized the base." Well, possibly. Maybe he put a bit of juice back into people like me who really want to like him but who are dismayed at how badly he seems to have blown it over his first year (may I be excused for suspecting that that is why MSNBC gave him two hours of a Saturday morning?).
But that's pretty thin soup, and it only helps at the margin. He's still got to figure out how to do what he ha hitherto so tragically failed to do: to set aside his air of detachment and immobility, to say goodbye to Mr. Cool, to make 'em laugh, to make 'em cry, and to make 'em mad at somebody other than him. Otherwise, we may find unselves facing up to the fact that in a grotesque and constrained sense, when it comes to High Office, the Other One really is better qualified.
1 comment:
I am slowly becoming resigned to the notion that Sarah Palin will be our next president. I suppose can bite on a stick and hang on through it, if I live long enough.
She'll only last one term, if that long. (She tends to lose interest in demanding jobs, as you may have noticed.)
The problem is, if I live that long I will emerge into an America without Social Security, Medicare, consumer protection, or any politician with a spine.
Crankily yours,
The New York Crank
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