The History of an Obama Supporter

I remember the exact moment I fell for Obama, figuratively speaking. It was the day after his convention speech. I remember I cut off the convention coverage early for an evening with my lady du jour. After she left my condo later that night, I turned the tv back on and all the pundits were speaking about this speech by a guy by the name of Barack Obama. The next day I watched the speech on the internet and I was hooked. You see, even though I profess an adherence to policy, numbers, and verifiable data, I'm a romanticist at heart. I have always been a sucker for the power of words (I mean c'mon, History and English student) and oration. I confess I have spent hours in my room watching speeches by my heroes, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and yes even fictional president Jeb Bartlett of the West Wing. I have studied speeches by Lincoln, William Jennings Bryan, Teddy Roosevelt, and Adolf Hitler.

Words are weapons, a cliche yes, but perhaps even it betrays the true power of words when spoken or written elegantly and passionately. "Mr. Gorbachav tear down this wall!" "...Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, We are Free at last!" "Ask not what this country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." "I am in earnest, I will not equivocate, I will not excuse, I will not retreat a single inch, AND I WILL BE HEARD" And perhaps my favorite, "It is rather for us here to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth" I firmly believe that there is nothing that mankind cannot accomplish when it is inspired to achieve by a charismatic leader, whether it be ending slavery, putting a man on the moon, achieving civil rights, ending the cold war, or, yes, even the extermination of over ten million Jews and other European minorities. Words have the power to inspire to both beautiful and terrible ends.

So after I watched Obama's convention speech (four or five times) I had found my man. For the next two years my conscious mind tried to speak truth to my subconscious whispers of desire that Obama would throw his name into the ring for 2008. My desires would whisper : "he's ready, he can do it." But it would get shouted down by my realism: "He is too young, he is too inexperienced." Nevertheless I woke up one November (I am pretty sure) 2006 morning and opened up cnn.com and saw that Obama was weighing a decision to run. Two months later he declared. I remember that day I went to my parents old house for dinner and I showed them the 2004 convention speech.

The next 12 months were agony, after an incredible declaration of his candidacy, Obama proved to be a relatively ineffective candidate. He was raising record amounts of cash, but he was performing very poorly in debates and in the polls. He was portrayed as a wimp, too nice to be president. His message of a new, positive, hopeful politics, was not resonating with the public. Furthermore, he was so sold on being positive that he refused to criticize his opponents. Thats a good strategy when you are winning but not when your down by a nearly insurmountable 25 points in the polls. Even still, I loved that he was so committed to his message that he wouldn't go negative despite the fact that it would probably lead to his demise. I would have been proud to go down with him.

Fast forward through a euphoric Jan. 3rd evening when we celebrated his Iowa victory over champagne, through a dismal Jan. 7th when it appeared Hillary Clinton had regained her inevitability, a fiercely cathartic Jan. 24th, when, after a week of insulting attacks by Hillary and Bill filled me with rage, Obama delivered such a brilliant speech that a friend I were literally jumping up and down with excitement in my apartment as if Georgia had just won the national championship, and through 50 other contests which wrought agony, despair, elation, and a million other emotions upon my soul to this night. This night is a rare one. This is a night where I can say my guy won. Believe it or not, being a Dean supporter in 04 and being from a conservative district in a conservative state, that is the first time I have ever been able to say that. Hopefully I will be able to say that again November 4, 2008 when hopefully words will once again triumph, this time over fear and folly.