Americans are somewhat reactive in their politics. The rise of a peanut farmer from Georgia was in some part voters washing their hands of Watergate and hoping for a return in the belief in government.
In this election, the American people are yearning for this same cleansing of the national soul. Two wars in the Middle East, an economy nearing Depression levels, at least--chatter about--and global standing in need of a good public relations consultant have American walking around with a haggard look.
The person who can guide America's standing at home and abroad is Sen. Barack Obama. In fact, Americans are blessed to have the only man actually capable of these things actually in the race.
That Sen. Obama burst upon the national scene four years ago and stunned the Democratic party by defeating Sen. Hillary Clinton in the primaries attests to the idea that America is truly blessed by a higher power.
It is in own national DNA to believe this. Colonists of this nation found a land rich in resources, constructed the Constitution and enriched the wealth of the new nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Scholars try not to include Manifest Destiny as a popular example of America's greatness, yet its presence directly led to American hegemony in the Western hemisphere and beyond.
Americans are fed up with being pawns in the soulless acts of the Bush administration. They do not desire to simply "shop" to help the country after 9/11 and they are still appalled their government stood back and nearly let an American city drown.
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The world is made up of 80 percent of people without white skin. The world is watching the rise of Barack Obama as a symbol of what they believe America to be about. A country that does the right thing in the name of freedom, not the colossus that runs over countries without nary a shred of evidence. A country that can surprise you with its compassion and sheer idealism. Every country has racial disharmony, yet have never contemplated making a mixed race man its leader.
Within our borders, more Americans are suffering than ever before. It is no longer just the poor left hanging without support or a recognizable lobby for their plight. It is nearly all of us. Sen. Obama has nicely straddled the line between inciting class warfare and urging those with more to help those with less during his campaign. The rich have become increasingly richer under President Bush and Sen. Obama should symbolize a return to progressive economic policies nearly killed from the time of President Reagan on.
The stark redistribution of wealth towards the rich stood as one of our country's most symbolic troubles--the erosion of the middle class. The financial meltdown which started two months ago seemed to be the clarion call to ordinary Americans that Republican tax policy and the fattening of the rich were to blame.
Sen. Obama believes we need share the wealth, Sen. Joe Biden said it is "patriotic" to pay your taxes. They are both right and Americans see it this way. If we pledge to watch over our neighbors homes and kids and form small communities across the land where hurchgoers easily pass the hat around to help fellow parishioners in need, why would it not be easy for us to recognize during tough economic times the need to help each other?
Americans are fed up with being pawns in the soulless acts of the Bush administration. They do not want to simply "shop" to help the country after 9/11 and they are still appalled their government stood back and nearly let an American city drown.
Sen. Obama is a true populist. Over and over he has espoused the belief the campaign is not about him, but about us. He tells supporters to be ready to do their part. The response to duty is, in turn, overwhelming.
The United States did not become the most powerful nation in the history of man without the fortitude and intelligence it has exuded for over 200 years. After eight years of Bush rule, those principles briefly escaped us, but did not break us. The fact that Americans, with an awful racial history of our own, looked past skin color and put the best man in position to bring us back to be that "shining city on the hill" speaks volumes about us as people.
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