February 3, 2008

I Choose Rocky II

My friends have been trying to get me to believe Obama’s vision and convince me he is the real deal. They, like me, believe in politicians who dare to propose drastic change, who dare to have a vision. Optimism is easy to come by. The combination of optimism, conviction, and the determination to see it through, is pretty rare.

I believe in visionaries. I always have. Michael Ignatieff was a visionary. That is why he was so polarizing. People didn’t like where he was going. Gerard Kennedy was a visionary as well, very inspiring for those who believed in him, and very mind-numbingly terrifying for those who saw things a different way.

The other end of this spectrum is the pragmatist. I detest pragmatic politicians. They like to talk a whole lot and do nothing. Pragmatists propose ideas which the consensus can agree to. Pragmatists are reactive in proposing policy while visionaries are proactive.

I began the democratic nomination supporting Hillary Clinton, because I always respected Hillary for all that she did during the first two years of Bill Clinton’s administration. The woman who DARED go against the health insurance industry. The woman who polarized the Republican Party so much, it brings a smile to my face. (I know she failed, but at least she tried) A woman with a vision. A woman who wanted to break barriers, who would not stand behind her husband, but alongside him. No Barack, this was no tea party.

The 1993 Hillary showed me she has what it takes to take on everybody. Support for national health care is higher in the US than ever, and she is willing to finish what she started 15 years ago. That is who many Democrats see in Hillary Clinton. They see 1993 Hillary. They see that she is back. They know she took her beating and that she is back to finish what she started. It is hard. She has been fighting this long fight for a long time; those tears in New Hampshire were probably not the first ones, nor will they be the last.

The new generation of American democrats sees Hillary Clinton as a robot, a prisoner to the focus groups. Hillary did learn something from her husband. She learned that doing something was better than doing nothing. She learned that portraying a decade of American history as a fraud would not help the country become unpolarized, especially when the decade isn’t over. “I told you so” is not a good way to unite a country. That is the definition of experience, and the young people so eager to shit all over the Clintons should take notes, because this is what Barack Obama lacks in spades.

Barack Obama is also a visionary, very heavy in the rhetoric and a man who never said anything in the context it would eventually be taken in by his opponents. He wants Americans to believe they can accomplish great things, to motivate the American people to reach for something more. He does not dare ask why. He dares ask why not! The US has not seen anyone this bold since John F Kennedy, which is why is was Ted Kennedy, mayor Quimby himself, who convinced me the Democrats could not lose in 2008.
Obama believes that the American people can reach for a new level and they are selling themselves short. He is right. The US won the cold war with sheer determination. Obama wants to bring this unmotivated new generation of Americans to a new level with him. He knows where he is going. He wants us to go with him. I may be skeptical, but I want to go with him…

See, this is why either one is a good nominee for the Democratic Party. They are both champions. They both believe they can win. They DARE to believe. They DARE to take the American people to the next step. In the end America wins either way.

I am happy Barack Obama got this far and I am happy to see him go toe to toe with Hillary but after a very tough fight, I believe he will lose, learn from his experience and be stronger to bring his vision forth, hopefully in eight years time.

I support Hillary Clinton because she knows when to fight right-handed if necessary. She has seen victory taken from her and willing to fight back one more time, knowing she has it in her to go the distance and win.

"Every once in a while a person comes along who defies the odds, who defies logic, and fulfills an incredible dream." Democrats just need to decide which Rocky they want, Rocky I or Rocky II. Either way, they should fight and be proud of what they are fighting for. Either way they get a champion.

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