As a lifelong aficionado of politics, I couldn’t help but cast a wary eye toward the political process during much of the past seven years. Due to a lack of governmental transparency, an administration that in many ways governed for only one half of America, and a constant perpetuation of politics predicated on fear, I became disillusioned by an institution I had once assumed to be democratic. Because of the repeated absence of disclosure on the part of the Bush brain trust, whether it was with regards to a war formulated on half-truths or the outing of a CIA operative, I slowly, but surely developed a distrust for the executive branch. Furthermore, while President Bush maintained the solidarity of our country’s conservative faction through his policies, he furthered the unnecessary and detrimental bifurcation of America across party lines. In addition, while many initially considered his handling of the tragic events of September 11 a testament to his presidential mettle, by using that fateful day as justification for an inherently flawed war in Iraq disguised as the “war on terror” and by creating an environment in which those opposed to the war have been alienated and painted as being unpatriotic, I truly believe that Bush and many of the Republican party elites have bastardized the most horrific event I have ever witnessed. However, for the first time in seven years, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, a light that has largely been illuminated by the person whom I believe should take the oath of office in January 2009, Barack Obama.
From day one of his campaign, Senator Obama has exhibited a form of politics that is diametrically opposed to the fraudulent goings on of the Bush administration. Obama has refrained completely from negative advertisements and rhetoric that plays to our deepest fears. While many criticize Obama for utilizing supposedly empty rhetoric, I firmly believe that true change requires an attitudinal shift not only among members of Congress, but also within the American citizenry and that rhetoric may often serve as the linchpin for this shift. Change cannot be forced, and for that reason, rhetoric is powerful insomuch as it inspires people to fight for things that they initially thought may not have been possible. Given Obama’s superior oratory skills and ability to inspire, I was initially disinclined to latch on to a Clinton candidacy; however, as this campaign has progressed, I have found another reason to cringe at the thought of Senator Clinton being nominated: her integrity. Instead of rejecting the notion that religion should play any role in this election, she acknowledged the possibility that Senator Obama may be Muslim, implicitly condoning the misguided racist attitudes that pervade pockets of our country. She waited days to issue a pseudo-apology for Geraldine Ferraro’s reprehensible remarks regarding the media hoopla over a potential black president. She has stated on multiple occasions that Senator McCain possesses the necessary credentials to lead our country, while explaining that Senator Obama does not. The more I listen to Hillary Clinton, the easier it becomes for me to recall the reasons for my visceral antipathy towards the right-wing. In my mind, her campaign strategy and regrettable rhetoric places her in the same camp as the administration that has tainted our country. Senator Clinton has embraced a politics in which the ends justify the means, even when such ends come at the expense of her own party and the decades of racial progress that this country has made, while on the other hand, Barack Obama continues to illuminate the possibility of a politics that transcends these very divisions that Hillary Clinton and President Bush continue to create.
