Obama, McCain, the Infomercial
I write as I watch, listen, and mull over Obama's Infomercial, today, at midnight of Thursday, October 30, 2008.
Obama is an amazing politician and an eloquent and intelligent man. He may well win the election. If he does, his victory will be a testament to his talents, and to the mood of a country that seeks great change.
McCain is an unimpressive politician and a man of great grit and commitment. He, too, may win the election. If he does, his victory will be a testament to his tenacity and to the mood of a country that is unsure of the promise of great change.
This election is about the nature of a promise that Obama makes and McCain does not.
What is that promise? It is a promise of
- the gifts of government. Government will solve the ills that beset us.
- healing. Because our country is--in his view--ill, sick. Its citizens are ill. Its politics is ill.
- hope. Hope against the backdrop of despair. Because Obama despairs of America as it is. Because America and its people are all suffering and there is nothing to celebrate.
- isolation. Because the world is not our friend (it steals our jobs) nor really our enemy (if we can focus on Afghanistan and befriending Russia, our enemies will cease to trouble us).
- equality.
What does Obama leave out?
- freedom
- liberty
- the power of personal initiative
- humility
- engagement with the world--friendship in trade and vigilance in defending our civilization against its enemies.
- love of America for what it has accomplished--and not just for what it might accomplish.
