I found it interesting that in the film they showed before Obama’s acceptance speech that no mention was made of the fact that he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, or of his obviously sterling academic career. Not that academic excellence is any indicator of leadership potential, the omission was nevertheless an indication of just how concerned the Obama camp is that their candidate not appear “too” smart; an “egghead’ or some elite Mr. Smartypants.
So, now we must spend the next 8 weeks witnessing the dumbing down of an obviously super-intelligent candidate. Of course the guy is “uppity.” He’s uppity like Kobe Bryant is uppity – like Jay Z is uppity. Obama’s obviously great at what he does – and the silly set of contortions that he must now go through NOT to appear superior, is just one more indication of what lame-ass gossip orgies our political contests have become.
Putting McCain together with the remarkably unqualified Sarah Palin means that the next 8 weeks will be about as much fun as picking up dimes with woolen mittens. Count on the Republicans to keep the debate and attention focused on issues that constantly pander to that eternal starter set of ideals; patriotism, loyalty and a sentimental attachment to tradition.
If we are lucky, Obama/Biden will prove triumphant on election day, and these next agonizing 8 weeks will be cut loose for that long slide to memory’s graveyard. But as my more cynical friends keep reminding me – NEVER underestimate the extent to which the party of Cheney and Rove will go to hold onto power. This is the one area where they truly excel – at making sure that truth never gets a minute of playing time.
The moments when Obama was landing punches in his acceptance speech were absolutely exhilarating – like he was marking a spot on the Republican’s jaw and then actually holding the elusive wraith still long enough to smack it square – just like Popeye. Hoo-rah! We can only hope there will be more moments like that. Obviously, having Sarah Palin dancing around in the sexy red trunks will mean that no hard punches will be allowed in that contest. Steely-jawed Biden – just itching for a fight – has been given a real kick in the nuts with this deeply cynical pick.
There is no doubt in my mind, that we will look back on the Democratic primaries between Obama and Hilary as the best of political times – our proudest moment in years – a race between two highly intelligent and highly qualified candidates.
What we have to look forward to now is a contest that can only prove notable by how bad it gets. It will never be good. The match-ups simply will not allow it. It will be like having Roger Federer playing tennis against Maury Povich. And forget about the Vice-Presidential contest – that’s like LeBron James playing hoops against Cameron Diaz. But while the contest may blow, don’t for a moment think that Maury and Cameron won’t score points. They will, because as usual, the game won’t be decided – like real sporting contest are – on the basis of skill, but rather how popularity contests are decided – by dumb sentimentalities.
Is it any wonder that Obama has to hide his intelligence? Intelligence brings few victories in American politics – it is the gift that dare not speak its name. That’s just us. We like our leaders dumb and constantly pandering to our lowest instincts. Thus we can always kid ourselves into thinking that they are no better than we are.
