That's What You Gotta Do

I have never made any contribution to a political campaign (other than voting) before. Never stuck a sign in my lawn, never volunteered to help out at phone bank, never made a donation. Partly that's because I'm lazy and would prefer to spout off rather than getting up off of butt and doing something, but mostly it's because I've never been very enthusiastic about the candidate I was supporting. My votes have often been about opposing candidates who I thought would do damage to the country (or state or city, depending on the election).

Tonight, however, I made a donation. I guess it took last night's debate to sufficiently motivate me, even though I have been enthusiastic about Obama for a long time. I did not see the entire thing, but the parts that I did catch were so disappointing. It took 45 minutes before a single question came up about policy. 45 minutes. Instead, the questions dealt with serious issues such as wearing a flag pin on one's lapel as a sign of patriotism, and whether or not Obama loves America more than Rev. Wright. I had to check to see if I was watching a debate sponsored by ABC, or by The Onion.

Now, I know that in the fall Obama will be faced with this kind of inanity. It is a staple of Republican campaigns. He will be called an out-of-touch elitist because all Democrats, no matter who they are or what their background, are called that by the party that has nominated a Bush for president four times. His patriotism will be questioned, not because anyone who is informed actually believes Obama might not care about his country very much, but because he is a Democrat and therefore his patriotism is automatically suspect. I get that.

One thing that I like about Obama is that I think he makes those engaging in those attacks look small. Like some dirt that just needs to be brushed off your shoulder.



I think he makes a good point that Clinton is engaging in this negative focus on posturing because "that's the lesson she learned when the Republicans were doing that same thing to her back in the 1990's." I'd like to try to leave that stuff back in the 90's.