The Obama That Never Was
When members of the Kennedy dynasty endorsed Obama, I could see why they claimed he reminded them of JFK. Obama, himself, invoked Reagan a time or two drawing upon similarities. I found nothing wrong with that, in my, perhaps peculiar, worldview. However, the similarities turned out to be spun fantasies.
When you hear Obama giving speeches, you feel good. You feel good about yourself and the people around you. In the cold harsh light of day away from the speeches, you had to struggle to pinpoint anything of substance. This is why Obama couldn’t wrap up the nomination. The longer he took doing so, the more likely something would come along and derail his campaign, which is exactly what happened. His mentor, by Obama’s own admission, was found to be an America hater. Oh, they talk about the racism, the racist comments, and try to make it all about race, but the underlying sore was the hate America sentiment. America became everything bad once again and reduced Obama’s oratory to the same commonplace level as every other candidate in the race. That along with unguarded comments made to an elite group in San Francisco is making of Obama’s campaign the inevitable trainwreck.
Obama made people feel good. Mrs. Obama made people feel angry because she was angry. Obama has great oratory skill, which is something he has in common with both of the aforementioned presidents. I believe one of the reasons why Mrs. Obama was sent into a sort of exile was because she didn’t make people feel good. Given what has now been made public about the good Reverend, one can perhaps understand why. She and the reverend share the same worldview of America which has undone the feel good politics that husband and protege, respectively, tried to neutralize. While he can repudiate his erstwhile pastor, he can’t so easily repudiate his wife of many years.
While most won’t have the words to explain it, there are likely many of his supporters who feel betrayed right now, without really understanding why or how. He was their savior, although they couldn’t say from what, just as JFK and Reagan were saviors during their respective tenures. What they were being saved from was their own self-hate.
It wasn’t JFK’s policies, nor Reagan’s. It wasn’t their accomplishments nor their mistakes. They certainly weren’t infallible. However, both possessed in common, a deep abiding love for this country and its people. These things exuded from them every time they addressed the nation. It wasn’t just their oratory but the fact that their feelings for this country shone through the words. They told us we had reason to be proud of who we are and what we stand for and gave us more reasons, in case the ones we had weren’t enough. They celebrated the great things about this country while working on rectifying the bad.
That’s what we miss when we say we miss Reagan. We miss the celebration of America, with all its warts and blemishes, as well as its beauty marks. I feel badly for those who missed the Reagan years… and the Kennedy years. They don’t know what they missed and won’t understand it until they experience it for themselves.
I’m not going to revel in the opposition’s disappointment. Instead, I’m going to commiserate. We conservatives were looking for the same thing in a president and what we got was: John McCain.
It’s not about the long war. It’s not about the illegal immigration issues. It’s not about taxes and the federal deficit. Yet, at the same time it’s all of those things and more. If this country is to be turned around in the right direction, we need another Reagan, or JFK if you prefer, someone who’s deep and abiding love for this country and its people outweighs everything else.
Obama promised change and hope; the change and hope that most don’t have the words to express. He promised a greater America because he made the people feel good. Obama almost had it in his grasp, but the people found out that their savior has feet of lead, instead.
