What Would You Think?

I've had a couple glasses of white wine so far, and I've been ruminating on the primary season and the early start of the general election. The question that comes to mind is, "What would I think if I was Barack Obama and I found myself in this position?" Hell, this man came out of nowhere, truthfully enough, in 2004, and built a massive grassroots operation to beat the best political team in a century, the Clintons.

What sort of circumstances led to this giant upset in political history? Sometimes I'm still amazed that a guy with a name like Barack Hussein Obama came this far, and that he's our frickin' nominee! Only in America could this happen, that we'd nominate the first African-American candidate, and I'm proud of that, but I'm still mystified by how it all happened.

It seems to me to be a strange confluence of events, and they were rather fortunate events for Barack Obama. He was uniquely positioned to take our votes as the anti-war candidate based upon the strength of his 2002 speech against the Iraq war, and that was the main reason why Hillary Clinton suffered. He represented a strong break with the past, against the political dynasties of Bush and Clinton. I still like Hillary Clinton, and I think she'd totally kick Republicans' asses as the great lioness of the Senate, but her war vote really turned me off, and I didn't want to vote for another political ticket that had the name Bush or Clinton on it. I was tired of that, and then came along Barack Obama.

And yes, then came the low points of the primary season. Jeremiah Wright. Only in America could an outspoken black minister be seen as a liability for the Democratic frontrunner. I'll never forget how low I felt with all the media channels playing Wright's greatest hits on an endless loop. And then the bitter remarks, and then, god, all the silly inanities of the political season.

Yes, I raged against Hillary Clinton. I blogged heavily against her, fingers typing away on the keyboard as a member of the Obama 101st Keyboardist Army, but all that anger's gone now. I'm not the type to hold onto anger, which my fiance is thankful for, and I'm still recovering from the primary season.

I now wonder what Obama thinks of the primary season, and the general election ahead. Is he amazed that he's in this position? What does he think about the fact that he's beaten the Clintons? And that he's in a good position (for now) against John McCain? What does a kid named Barack Hussein Obama think about all of this?

Does he think, "Damn, they actually did it. They nominated ME? Not Hillary Clinton?"

And this is the sort of America that I've always wanted it to be---the kind that listens to and takes a chance upon a candidate like Barack Obama in the hopes of changing this country.

I'm still amazed by it all.