The Obamanomenon

I haven't spent a whole lot of time in this space talking about the horserace for the nominations recently. For a variety of reasons, I mostly tired of the endless speculation, the ebbs and flows, and the ridiculous what-iffing of 'if Huckabee wins Iowa, then McCain in New Hampshire, and Fred Thompson can somehow eke out a victory in South Carolina, then clearly Giuliani is the nominee.'

Whatever.

But, tonight, we reengage with the political process. Pedal to the metal, full-speed ahead.

I don't have a whole lot to add to the commentary of the night (see Ezra, Ezra, Ezra, Ezra, and Matt for more interesting thoughts than I could ever have.) I will say that, while I agree with Shane that you can't really call the national process over yet, at the same time I just don't think I see a likely path for anyone but Obama to win the Dem nomination at this point. Edwards just doesn't have the cash to compete, and Hilary's entire raison d'etre, the fact that she was the most competent, the best organized, the inevitable winner of the entire race, just went out the window.

I like Hilary. In most elections, I would proudly pull the lever for her. I'm a big fan of competent, reasonable government, and I think it's important to know how to Get Stuff Done, and that's a lady who knows how to do so. But this year, pardon my French, fuck competence.

The world, and, hopefully, the citizenry of the US of A, has seen the absolute clusterfuck that results from electing an entire government of people who don't believe in the ability of government to actually accomplish positive things in the world. You get corporate governance in the absolutely worst sense of the word, with selfish yahoos looking to get ahead in the game, only interested in their own well-being.

The American system has always been, at its heart, a bit utopian. We are always hoping for the right person to come along, to Fix The System, to make a difference in the world. This year, I fervently believe that we actually have a chance to take a step in that direction. I don't know what the future holds, if Obama wins the nomination.

I'm quite confident that we will see the ugliest negative campaigns that have ever been mounted on a national scale. But, if he can overcome these attacks by fighting back honestly, and smartly, and strongly, I honestly believe that Barack Obama can revive the promise that an entire generation once felt was embodied in Bobby Kennedy.

Maybe the conservatives will continue to live out their history, throwing roadblocks in the way of progress and engaging in dishonest discourse to get their way. But maybe, just maybe, Obama can prove to be such a transcendent figure, such an inspiration, that he can render irrelevant these tactics. If he can bring 57 Democrats to the Senate in 2009, maybe the reptilian brains of the Republican leadership will process the fact that the train is leaving the station, and they better hop on board or get left behind.

It's a long shot, I know, but, like Andy Dufresne says in The Shawshank Redemption, hope is a good thing; maybe, the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. Isn't the possibility worth taking the chance? You'll never fly without taking the chance of falling, but the worlds that open up make it all worth the risk.

I will leave quoting Ezra, who most pithily summed up my feelings for the night:

It's a remarkable night. Not just for Obama, or for Democrats, or for political junkies. For the country.