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Months and months ago --I'm thinking like 6-9 months ago, at least--I read that Durbin had been pushing Obama to check out presidential-run possibilities. I also think it may have to do with a favorite-son thing, who knows. In the meantime, my own son, who lives in Illinois and first put me onto Obama when he first started to run for senator in the primaries, way before Obama got nationally "famous"; my son supported Obama with enthusiasm fin senatorial primary and general election, but has cooled considerably on Obama in the last few months. He knew all about the sleezy real estate deal in Chicago, agreed it was small potatoes compared to W./Rove/Cheney and co., but still talked about it with distaste..Reviewing possible candidates over Tgiving, he was alarmed by thought of Hillary (does ANYone really support her? I've met several people who think she'll be the candidate, but no one who WANTS her to. .), said Obama doesn't yet have experience, but if he were the candidate , he'd "hold his nose" and vote for him, but clearly had lost his initial enthusiasm. I guessed that he thought some Obamamaniac friends of ours were naive.
I like Obama well enough , and agree he's a fantastic speaker (I heard his 2004 convention speech in the hall, and I was blown away at the time), but he has way way too little experience to be president, and he is way too untested even to be a serious candidate. The funny real estate deal: a sign his star has risen too far, too fast, and a warning to us as well as to him on how untested he really is. The suprisingly cautious, conservative voting record: think, guys, this is not the record of a real leader, at least not one I"m impressed with. And, while I'm not one of the Obamaniacs, I do think (or hope) that he fundamentally has enough intelligence and good sense, or at least his wife (who works in Chicago and has a pretty high-power job there) does , to see that a presidential run is very premature, and also potentially very disruptive of his family. If he does decide to go ahead, then, to me it will mean that the hype has gone to his head, and he really has lost his moorings. And that will become evident to more people over time.
I've gotten generally fed up with my fellow Dems lurching from one hearthrob of the month to the next. Come on, fellow Dems: have the confidence and spine to choose someone who's right for the job, and then SUPPORT him: don't keep looking for a Telegenic Messiah on a White Horse to come and rescue you from reality . I'm as frustrated at my fellow Dems these days as I am at MSM and Bushco. Maybe even more so, since I expect more of them than I do of the media and the Repugs. Sometimes my fellow Dems just strike me as silly.
I caught a bit of Hardball last night-- near the end, Tony Blankley was talking. His picture of Obama pretty much mirrored my own thoughts. It's a strange world indeed when I find myself agreeing with people like Tony Blankley!! Maybe it's because the Repugs have some distance from the Dem field and aren't as emotionally involved as my pathetically insecure party. (I agree that some of the MSM treatment of Kerry is explained by the fact that someone of them are embarrassed to admit that they were wrong, about Kerry, about Iraq, and other issues of the day. There's also a junior-high pack-mentality peer-pressure thing going on, which is totally frustrating to me. Can't any of these guys think for themselves? or just THINK, already?)
Folks, this will all sort itself out. There's been a holiday break, most of political attention has been on Iraq disaster and on the new members of congress, no one knows what they're talking about --neither the Talking Heads, nor the voters-- as to 2008. (Remember how many pundits were totally wrong about how the 2008 primaries turned out? Talk about "toast": the MSM is t he group that should be toast! amazing that these gasbags still have their jobs!). Kerry will continue his good work in the Senate, and will resume his wonderful speeches again,and he will start to hit some well-chosen talk shows and blow people away, and , with help from us, from the thinking and/or gutsy members of the media, and his staff (please, JK staff, he does need some really effective PR here) . He will continue to sway voters one by one, just as he did in 2003-2004, in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Caroline, Nevada, and elsewhere.
I think that Hillary, Obama, Edwards, et al will seem much smaller as the winds of real life and real scrutiny begin to hit.
People voted sensibly in 2006, and it felt like , for once, they were voting on the issues.
The issues will be even more urgent in 2008 than they are now.
But, in the meantime, the voters and the MSM do need some help. As they say, nature abhors a vacuum. So, while people take their time to wake up and get serious, we've got to spread the word. Not just here on the Kerry forum, but in mentioning JK's qualities, and our support and admiration for him, to other blogs, to friends, coworkers, family, a bit at a time, a person at a time. WE'VE GOT TO BE THE MEDIA.
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