To hear some liberals tell it, the media is a rightwing mouthpiece completely biased against us. But if you get outside of that construct of victimhood, you can see a more accurate explanation: They just like easy storylines. They're story tellers, and there are few stories better than a good conflict.
Just look back at the coverage during the Olympics and you'll see all of the same storylines we see in politics all the time. It's all about this person "blasting" that person and who's trying to overcome what. Same goes with Tiger Woods and his affair, and any other sports story. Anyone can report scores, these people want dirt. How can we expect these people to properly report policy debates when they don't even find sports interesting unless it's coated in human drama?
And so it's just natural that Republicans are interesting for them. Pitting jerkoff Republicans against do-gooder Democrats is a great story, which is why our political landscape so closely resembles professional wrestling. And that's what's so great about Obama, in that he's capable of changing the story.
First off, in case you hadn't noticed, he's black. And that's an interesting story for a president. Fairly unusual, I understand. Plus, he's cool, but not in a "trying to look cool" sort of way; which is always more cool. But beyond that, he's just a bright guy who's able to see the world in all four dimensions, when everyone else is working in two or three, and can reach through the other two dimensions that most people are lacking and completely tweak everyone's noses without them having the slightest clue how he did it.
And he's not only been able to throw Republicans for a loop, but he's convinced the media that there's a new story going on, and they're happily reporting it. Because they really WANT a new story, but Dems were simply unable to weave one for them that they were willing to repeat. Until now. Sure, yeah, they're still reporting Republican stories too, but...they really like Obama's stories.
Two Blacks in a Pod
And this is all a long way to marvel at the joy of seeing the top Yahoo frontpage story: RNC Chairman Michael Steele says he and Obama have it harder because of their race. And wow, like Steele's not getting roasted in RNC headquarters for that blunder. Even Yahoo's subline was good: "An embattled Michael Steele says he and his frequent foe share obstacles related to race." Yikes! Are we ready for our kumbiya moment yet?
And this is what I saw in a flash back in 2008 when Dodd dropped out of the race and I had to take a cold hard look at the top tier Dems, and spotted the great potential of Obama. This is why he was not only the first politician to make me go to a political rally (which was a great thrill, btw), but to actually make me want to go door-to-door to get out the vote before the Texas primary that year.
Not because I somehow thought we needed a black president and not because he gave good speech. But because he and his team are working at a level that most people can't even comprehend. And all the time that progressives attack him for not insulting Republicans enough, he's making profound changes in the very way our politics work and has done more to help liberalism than any progressive alive.
And all the while the "Tea Partiers" are repeating the same mistakes they made with Clinton, Obama is running circles around them in a way that they can't even comprehend. That's the guy I threw my support behind and he hasn't let me down.
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Oh, and just to toot my own horn, I just wanted to quote a few highlights from January 2008, in that post when I threw my support behind Obama:
I now loooove Obama's entire schtick. I was always a bit skittish that he might be a little lightweight, but have now seen enough to believe that he can seal the deal.
He has a positive optimism that I find refreshing (almost as positive as myself), and he seems quite good at analyzing the political scene well enough to know which notes of his opponent's to steal without selling himself out.
....
And overall, I just get a big Can Do attitude from the Obama. While Hillary comes off as the rough and tumble street fighter who learned how to handle herself the hard way and is always ready to attack, Obama has the wise, but immaculate confidence of someone who knows what it's like to fight, but hasn't been damaged by it. He'll fight if he has to, and fight well; but only if he has to.
....
This isn't about playing offense or defense. This is about going beyond politics. And only in the past few weeks have I become convinced that Obama has the fighting skills to not only handle himself in a battle, but to be able to pull himself back out again. I only hope that he's given the chance.
Holy shit! Can I call it, or what?
He is a political chess master. I appreciate his strategy, and have held faith in the outcome.
He has done nothing to the Republicans but allow them to destroy themselves, even merely by extending a hand of friendship which they cannot accept.
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