Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Obama
There is more positive press about Obama than any other politician. He is portrayed as reasonable and genuinely a new voice — casting off a defensive stance. Obama is a liberal — honorable — but you really want to feel that a leader is like Orwell in the sense that he sees the ad hoc as preferable to any system. Obama's reasonableness might have its limits — he didn't vote to condemn Iran, an important moral choice. But given the jaundiced tenor of the public sphere, where being jaded is a pose that has gone way beyond an affectation of coolness into a weariness of spirit, Obama might just be a step in the right direction. I've never felt it myself, but many on both sides of the debate see the Clintons as ruthless in their pursuit of power; seems a bit overblown as a charge — anyone who wants to be president has to have a bolt loose.
To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle.
—George Orwell