American Views Abroad

First news of the day was cause for relief and a loud cry of joy! Barack Obama won big in a state where 92% are white. If he can do it there, then he can do it anywhere in the US. Many things were inspiring: his way of presenting himself, his refusal of just throwing numbers and mind blogging statistics at every problem, his call for change in an atmosphere of cynicism, his taking citizens seriously and not appearing to manipulate them.

Given the choice between voting for a black man or a woman, many young single women tended to head to Obama. Why not? When the first woman is finally elected President, let it be one who has truly done it on her own. Let's not start going down the road that leads most First Ladies to think they have to throw their hats in the ring. There should be no sense of entitlement because one's father or husband (or wife) has been President. It would be unbearable to go on from Bush to Clinton to Bush to Clinton (not to mention the option of having a former two term president back in the White House and all the messiness that entails) to perhaps yet another Bush. In a country of 300 million surely there are very many highly talented people with new ideas who can run.

Did the war in Iraq take a back seat in this one primary campaign as leading newspapers are reporting? A gut feeling says no. The war is there: it's lurking in the background, putting a stain on our collective soul and draining the economy of money desperately needed for domestic problems, health insurance for all citizens being one of the most pressing issues.

No point in reading too much into one primary when so many others are coming up. Yet something special happened yesterday. A glimmer of an ideal of what America is all about put in an appearance and it was great seeing it finally, after these almost eight years of darkness.

A Dynasty Isn't a Democracy by Rosa Brooks at www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/03/6135