Thursday, June 05, 2008

I Hope This Isn't Their Idea of a Substantive Campaign

You have to give Barack Obama his moment in the sun. Being the first black person as a major party candidate is quite an accomplishment. But what's even more astounding is that he could win a major party nomination without having any substance to him. Indeed, it seems as though liberal blogs are congratulating Obama not on having better ideas and policies than his opponents, but merely for giving good speech (see various posts here, here and here for examples).

Oh, I know it's expecting a lot from the slackers in the back of the class to think that their euphoria at Obama's all but assured nomination would have some class, but I've always been naive that way. It's telling when I can agree with Thomas Tallis when he says,

I know to you finding fault with people who praise Obama is “concern trolling” and there’s no disabusing you of that idea but honestly it’d be so refreshing if the election could be discussed in some terms other than “our hero, immaculate; his opponent, wretched” you know?

But that's really the only thing most Obama-crushers seem to have.

I thought Obama wanted to run a post-racial, substantive campaign. "Hope" and "change" aren't either, but they--gosh darn it!--make people feel good, which is possibly enough for November.

UPDATE: OTOH, Larry Elder explains what black people have really accomplished in the last 40-plus years.