Obama's Audacity

Ok.... I'll admit it.... I may be drinking Obama's Kool-Aid. But isn't it tasty?

There is a growing chorus of Obama detractors saying "Why haven't we looked at his record with greater scrutiny?" or "How come the media is going so easy on Obama?". These questions were inevitable, if not from Hillary's camp, from John McCain's. But I have to tell you, I don't know if anyone cares... Is it the Kool-Aid? Has Barack Obama become a cult of personality?

The naysayers are saying "He doesn't have a specific plan", "He doesn't have the experience of Hillary Clinton or John McCain" or "This change stuff is pure rhetoric".... and I'm here to tell you, those things may be true. They probably are true. But where Obama really shines is getting people to believe in themselves and America again. He engages the populace to want to be involved in their future. He makes you believe that he really wants to do what is right and just for America. He has his opinions, obviously, but doesn't claim to have all the answers. He knows he doesn't know everything and is not averse to advocating an idea that's not his own. He's selling hope, and it's flying off the shelves.

So tell me, good people... What's so wrong with that? Did John F. Kennedy have such vast and great experience when he took office at the ripe old age of 43? Did Bill Clinton have such a great and detailed plan before he took office to enable this country to see its greatest economic growth in 40 years? Were Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Fireside Chats" a staple of his gubernatorial term in New York? No... Each of these men were able to motivate the country through their words, which in turn allowed meaningful action to take place. If you can't get the country excited about what you're proposing, even if it's just being hopeful about change, then you're not going to get much done as president. We've seen presidents get elected by fear mongering, name calling, or simply by being the lesser of two evils. Getting elected on a message of hope and a pledge to do the right thing by the people without a laundry list of policies and programs that stand little to no hope of being passed in congress, much less realized, is better than what I've seen from the other candidates in this race.

Barack Obama is selling something that none of the other candidates are... Hope... Hope for real change. Change in what, you ask? Change would be individual to every single person in our nation. It's not policy, program, or a specific agenda he's asking you to buy into. It's a way of life. A culture. Being positive and having lofty goals for yourself and your country... Challenging your fellow Americans to accept only better things from their government... Having an honest hope that we can bridge our differences to give ourselves and our children a better quality of life... Setting a tone for this country that will be respected and admired around the world, rather than America being seen as a bully and self-serving nation.... these are not bad things.

Yep... the Kool-Aid is mighty tasty.