Barack vs. Bubba

Since McCain's speech basically left me temporarily assuming Obama victory, I started thinking about something some annoyingly condescending conservative pundit had said about the only reason Obama was so wildly popular among liberals was that he was a "Numinous Negro". And I really, really thought about it. Is it true that the liberal frenzy is just a desire to redress old wrongs by electing a black man President?

In all honesty, there was a little yes but mostly no there's more to the story. Of course there's a great amount of excitement at what this means historically, and dismissive conservatives aside, historically transformative moments are self-explanatory. Of COURSE electing a black man President will be historic, even if, in a way, the noteworthy nature of this moment is simply to negate the idea that it should even be noteworthy.

The mostly "no" part though is this: Barack Obama is clearly a singularly brilliant and talented individual, and the thought that he was merely chosen because of his color is ridiculous on its face. This is proven almost by the nature of the primary itself, when two equally historic candidates were running neck and neck to the bitter end. One had to be chosen, and largely because Obama knows how to create a movement around him, and has the brain, presence, policy wonkery, hidden electoral wisdom, and vocal cords to do it, he succeeded. Even when I step back and realize I'm being taken in by the political theater, the fact is I AM being taken in by the political theater, and I'm thankful, truly thankful, that someone has been kind enough to provide such wonderful political theater in my lifetime! We want to believe, and I truly believe that America functions better as a country when we are provided someone (when they provide themselves) to believe in. There's a reason the American Dream is called the American Dream and not the American Reality. Conservatives miss the forest for the trees when they miss that salient point (which is surprising considering Reagan was a master manipulator of the American Dream beyond compare).

I went a step further and thought about Barack Obama versus Bill Clinton. If Bill would have been in THIS primary, would he have won? And that's a very tough question to answer. John Edwards really never had a chance this time around, and it wasn't just because he was the white guy. I've never been sold on Edwards. I never doubt his sincerity (well...) but there's always just something about him that felt off, and I was never in the least surprised when it came out he'd been having an affair. I think it was this sense about him - sort of a preening self-regard despite the populist rhetoric, that allowed the comments about his $400 haircuts to stick. And Hillary just suffered from a combination of too much baggage and a confused campaign message. I loved listening to her go off on policy, it was wonderful to behold, but ultimately it was clear that she did not have a proper grasp on the necessary theater for the moment. The movement maker was the student of Alinsky, Obama.

So, Bill versus Barack.... My money in that contest would be on Bill, even with the "historic nature" business riding behind such a contest. Mainly this comes down to Bill's ease with "just folks". He doesn't have to force it at all, it just flows out of him like honey. Barack, beyond his indisputable gifts, beyond a certain degree of casual cajolery he can allow himself, doesn't ultimately project ease with folks the way Bill can, or rather sometimes it's there and sometimes it's not. Policy-wise I'd be curious to see how the battle would have gone, although I think it's clear it would have been simply another case of the hair-splitting that went on in this primary. So it would have to come down to personalities. And in that contest - it's tough, but just-folks-but-also-strangely-genius-Rhodes-Scholar-with-golden-tongue- and-hypnotizingly-strange-pointer-finger Bill Clinton I think wins. It's just Bill - as singular and exotic a creature as Barack Obama - and something about him just makes you want to let him get away with everything. Something, no matter how philosophically open-minded he might be, is just that much a little stiff and judgmental about Obama, or at least feels that way.

So I'm curious how Barack will season the actual business of governing. I have little doubt he'll be an effective, enormously conscientious, policy wonk's policy wonk of a President. My main curiosity is how he will work on the national sensibility in the long term. I kind of suspect he'll end up being a sort of distant Woodrow Wilson type - having mastered what political skills he needed to get to where he needed to be and then moving beyond them - but who knows, maybe he'll favor a weekly town hall approach a la FDR... But I somehow doubt that he will be as comfortable in the role as Bill ever was (for better and definitely for worse).