It's happened. The Enemy has finally been seduced by the charming chap from Illinois.
"What happened?" you ask. Well, pull your chair closer, gentle reader, and The Enemy will tell you.
It all began the other night over dinner with friends (yes, The Enemy has friends.) We were talking (yelling) politics and presenting the merits and faults of each candidate when one of The Enemy's "friends" "graciously" reminded him that for much of the last 12 years The Enemy has been arguing for an Obama.
The Enemy had long argued that, beginning with Reagan's 'Morning in America', Republicans had learnt a language that bypassed the brain and went straight to the heart. A language that rendered Democrats effectively mute. It was a potent mix of sentimentality and triumph that could —— and did —— sweep folks up from their little lives and relocate them in the epic drama that is "This Great Nation", where everyone is a participant in the historical drama, without ever having to get off the couch. This was a narrative that approached (slouched toward?) the divine. Powerful enough to get decent working folks to put down the remote and cast a vote against their own personal interests, a vote in favor of something greater than themselves, a vote for something 'noble', a vote to embiggen.
Sweeping in scope, there was little room left for 'facts'. Indeed, the Religious Right would tell you that there —— camouflaged amongst the thicket of 'details'—— "you know who" was hiding.
It was, however, from that very same thicket of facts and figures that
liberals insisted on launching their counter offensives. Armed with
their grim graphs and cold calculations, Democrats continued to
argue their well reasoned cases, and time after time —— from abortion to The Gays ——
from immigration to the invasion of Iraq —— their PowerPoint presentations
of 'facts' were drowned out by a Wagnerian version of 'The Star Spangled Banner' that swelled from stage
Right. When reason and emotion collided, emotions
invariably won.
The Enemy argued that Democrats needed to relearn this
vocabulary of signs and symbols if there was to be any hope of
restoration. He insisted on the word 'relearn', because it was a language the left
had once been fluent in.
From Harriet Beecher Stowe to MLK, progressives in this country have found their most inspired moments in those voices that sing through the gritty actualities toward a greater 'truth', and these moments have set American hearts afire.
If Democrats are going to successfully reframe
the great issues of the day, they will have to reconnect Americans with their forgotten stories. Reawaken in
them the other, greater narrative that informs America's sense of self ——
The Great Inclusion. It is time to shut down the orchestrations of the Right with that other interpretation of 'The Star Spangled Banner', only this time Obama will play Hendrix.
Elections are decided in the marketplace of emotions,
a marketplace filled with values, images, analogies, moral sentiments,
and moving oratories. The Enemy had pressed for a candidate that would cut loose the heavy 'facts' and soar toward heaven on his or her own hot air. Like it or not, the people want goose-bumps, not homework. What was needed was not the soft-shuffle of a John Kerry or the
sensible shoes of The Al Gore. What was needed was a flashy pair of high
stepping boots that could triumphantly lead the parade of history.
Obama, this "friend" pointed , is that candidate.
...oh.
As a very scary, very wise woman once said
"...the beat goes on, the beat goes on. La de da de de, la de da de da"
Of course, The Enemy's endorsement of Obama does not rest on the candidate's merits alone, there is also the growing discomfort with the Billary show, but that'll have to wait for a another post.
The next problem for The Enemy is informing the Husbandito of this change of heart, having whipped him into a wild-eyed, anti-Obama frenzy over the whole McClurkin flap (yikes).
i'd made my decision to vote for not voting in the primary election and beyond. now i have to rethink my decision. not because i believe it's a good idea for me to vote, but because you cannot. on tuesday i will drop of my ballot at the elementary school around the corner with a note written the margin "this one is for The Enemy".
Posted by: Slackster | January 31, 2008 at 08:25 PM